Percy Online
by WinterKit18
Summary: Percy, wanting to be a normal teen decides that he is going to take place in SAO, for only 30 minutes a day. Join our favorite heroes from these two stories to see what happens when Percy is stuck in the game as well.
1. Chapter 1

**So, I'm excited for this story. I had this idea and I just couldn't get it out of my head. So, I started writing and just couldn't stop. I'm going to try to stick to the story line as much as possible, but like any fanfiction, I, as the author, get to change somethings. Plus seeing how I am adding characters to the word of Sword Art Online, from the Percy Jackson world, things are going to be different. Please read and review. I don't know how often I will get to update this story because I have a few others that I am working on as well.**

 **One final thought before I begin Japan is 13 hours ahead of New York.**

 **Oh! One more thing! I do not own and of the Percy Jackson characters or SAO characters. Now, on with my new story!**

* * *

 **10:05 p.m. in New York 11/05**

"I'll be fine," Percy said for the hundredth time into his cell phone.

"Percy, you know technology is horrible for us," Annabeth said as she practically yelled at her idiotic boyfriend.

"Annabeth" Percy said with a sigh, "we're using technology right now."

"You know that this is different! Leo and his siblings designed these phones so that way monsters can't find us!" Annabeth continued to shout at him.

"Hey, I'll be fine. I'll only play for 30 minutes at a time. I'll set alarms so that way I don't use the Nervegear longer than I should," Percy said as he unlocked the apartment door. "Besides, you know my room is protected from monsters. We developed that celestial bronze paint, that means that my room is warded against monsters."

"That's not the same!" Annabeth shouted. She had a bad feeling about the new virtual reality game that had been released. "Besides, it's only been tested a few times in controlled environments!"

"Well, I'm going to field test it now," Percy said as he set his things down on the coffee table as he walked back to his room. He would put it away after he finished logging in.

"Percy!" Annabeth tried again.

"Wisegirl, I want one normal experience. I want to play video games like normal teen," Percy said as he set the gear down on his bed. He had less than an hour until everything would begin online but he still had to do final checks to make sure that everything was hooked up right.

"So, rebel!" she shouted as she walked across Camp Halfblood. She ignored the weird looks that the other campers were giving her. "Do something stupid, besides playing a video game!"

"Annabeth, I promise I will be offline within a half an hour of playing," Percy said in a final tone. He knew that he should probably listen to Annabeth but he was getting something that he never in a million years dream of being able to play.

His stepdad had pulled a few strings to get him the Nervegear so that way he would be able to play Sword Art Online. It had been a late birthday present because of Hera kidnapping him. Paul had call a friend that was in the army and stationed over in Japan. Paul had begged his friend to buy one when the beta testing had been going on. Luckily, Paul's friend had been able to get one, but not in time for Percy to take part in the beta testing. But Percy had gotten it in time for him to be able to take part in the main event.

"Percy," Annabeth said in a last-ditch effort.

"I'll call you as soon as log off," Percy said as he hung up the phone. He really wanted to say, 'I love you' at the end, but he chose to instead just hang up and say it when he called her later on that night.

* * *

"Aah!" Annabeth screamed in frustration as she stormed through the camp at 10:15 p.m. On her way to her cabin she passed by Jason and some other campers that were working late into the night on new shrines and cabins for the minor gods.

"Are you okay?" Jason asked as he momentarily stopped overseeing the construction of the new temples.

"No! Percy is being even more dumb than Hera!" Annabeth shouted to the heavens, choosing to ignore the thunder rumble. She didn't care as the sky gave a rumble in protest. Annabeth was about to start taking her frustrations out on the sky when Leo interrupted her thoughts.

"What's he doing now?" Leo asked as he looked over towards his friends. He had been standing over by the construction of a new cabin for some minor god that he couldn't pronounce the name of, helping when he could.

"He's going to try out that knew video game Sword Art Online," Annabeth grumbled as she plopped down on the grass.

"He got a copy of SAO!" Conner shouted from where he was working.

"No fair!" Travis shouted from where he was working beside his brother.

Annabeth sent both of them a glare with a clear message of shut up.

"I mean, he's such an idiot," Travis tried to remedy.

"Yea, an idiot," Conner echoed as he went back to work to escape the wrath of Annabeth.

"I can't believe he got a copy of SAO," Leo said as he walked over towards his best friend and Annabeth. "That's really cool."

"No, it's not cool because he's a demigod," she said as she attempted to control her anger.

"So?" Leo said as he looked at Annabeth.

Jason hung his head at Leo. He knew that Leo hadn't spent a whole lot of time in Camp Half-blood, but he thought his friend wouldn't have been so dense. "Leo, half-bloods and technology don't mix remember."

"Oh, right," Leo replied sheepishly. "I forgot about that."

"I need Piper," Annabeth said as she got up and stormed off.

"Why does she need your girlfriend?" Leo asked as he slowly started following the blond.

"I don't know but I intend to find out," Jason said as he followed as well. If Annabeth needed Piper, Percy was going to be in world of hurt when he finished his video game.

"Piper!" Annabeth shouted as she pounded on the Aphrodite cabin. "Piper I need you now!"

"Annabeth?" Piper asked in a confused voice. "You do realize that it is 10:20 at night, right?"

"Yes, I realize the time," Annabeth shouted in frustration.

"What's wrong?" Piper asked as she stepped out of her cabin and shut the door. Some of her younger siblings were already in bed asleep.

"Percy's doing something stupid again," Annabeth continued to shout.

"More so than usual?" Piper asked.

"Yes!" Annabeth screamed. She was getting herself all worked up again. "He's going to play that new virtual reality game and I have a terrible feeling about it!"

"Have you told him?" Piper asked.

"Yes, but he won't listen. He keeps going on about how he wants a normal experience in his life," Annabeth said as she started pacing around.

"So, let me guess. You want me to call and talk with him?" Piper offered.

"No, I want you to call and charmspeak him into destroying his video game and console!" Annabeth shouted in rage. She knew that she needed to calm down, but at the moment, she didn't care. Her feeling of unease had been growing with each passing second. She felt that something bad was going to happen, and happen soon.

"Alright I'll call him," Piper said gently as she pulled out her cellphone. She dialed her friend's number and waited for him to pick up. She waited, and waited, until finally the sound of his voicemail filled her ear. Instead of hanging up like she normally would, Piper left a voicemail. "Hey, Percy when you get this message I want you to destroy Sword Art Online and never play it again. Once you finish destroying the game I want you to call us," Piper said as she let her powers flow into her words.

"Now we wait," Leo stated as he sat down on the wet grass outside the cabin.

The four of them sat in the grass waiting. Annabeth was a wreck, growling at any of them at the slightest thing. Jason was worried for Percy, because Annabeth was going to kill him the next time she saw him. Piper was worried about Annabeth, she had never saw her best friend act this way. And Leo, Leo was just agitated because Annabeth's behavior was setting him on edge.

"Where's Percy!" Rachel screamed as she ran up to the four waiting on the ground.

"At home getting ready to play that new VRMMORPG," Leo stated. Everyone turned towards the son of Hephaestus in shock. "Hey just because we aren't allowed to play videogames doesn't mean I don't know about them."

Rachel shook herself out of her state of shock before she frantically spoke up saying, "He's in danger. Sword Art Online is a trap."

"What do you mean?" Piper asked.

"I had a vision of Percy and thousands of other people in a comatose state with those videogame helmets on. I saw doctors slowly wheeling people away that had flatlined with the helmets on. Families grieving over the loss of their players," Rachel said as she tried not to cry. It had been a horrible glimpse of the future.

"Call him again," Jason ordered immediately as Annabeth stood there in shock.

"It went to voicemail again," Piper stated a minute later. "When does this thing go online?" Piper asked as she looked around at her friends.

"11:00 p.m. here in New York," Annabeth stated, still in shock.

"It's 10:35 now, we have less than 25 minutes to get to Percy," Leo stated as he looked around.

"We'll take my car," Rachel said as she took off sprinting towards the big house where her car was parked.

Jason and Piper grabbed Annabeth's hands and dragged her after them as they ran after Rachel. No one bothered to buckle up as Rachel gunned it down the road and away from camp. They had twenty-two minutes to reach their friend and it took an hour on a good day to reach his apartment.

Jason call next as he tried to warn his friend. He was starting to get worried that Percy had already put the Nervegear on.

"Try calling Nico," Rachel suggested as she didn't bother going the speed limit. If she got caught, so what. Her friend was in danger.

"What good will that do?" Leo asked as he sat in the front seat next to Rachel.

"He can shadow travel to Percy than we can drive," Rachel said as she took a corner that suggested she go 45 while she was going 70 mph.

"Right," Leo muttered as he pulled out his phone. He quickly dialed Nico's number.

Nico finally answered it on the last ring. "This had better be good, Valdez," Nico seethed. "I'm on a date."

"Who are you on a date with?" Leo asked dumbly.

"Leo!" everyone shouted.

"If that is the only reason why you called, I'm hanging up," Nico said.

"Give me the phone!" Piper shouted as she snatched the device. "Nico, you need to go help Percy right now. His life is in danger," Piper said frantically at the clock in the car read 10:52 p.m.

"What's going on?" Nico said as he gave his friends his full attention. Even shot Will a look letting him know that something serious was going on.

"Percy is about to play that new game Sword Art Online and it's a trap," Piper said quickly. "Once someone's logged in, they can't log back out."

"Where is he?" Nico asked as he motioned for the waiter to bring them their check.

"Annabeth, where is Percy?" Piper asked.

"Home, he's at home," she replied as she stared straight ahead.

"He's at his apartment," Piper stated.

"Okay, Will and I are heading their now," Nico stated as he hung up his phone.

"I'll call Percy again, you try Sally," Jason said as he dialed the number again.

"Nothing," Piper said as she hung up her phone.

"Do you have Paul's number?" Jason asked. He saw Piper shake her head no. "I'll call him, you call Percy."

"We're not going to make it," Rachel whimpered as her clock read 10:58.

"No," Annabeth whimpered as well. She pulled out her phone and called him. She prayed to every god that she knew of asking one of them asking that Percy would pick up his phone. But the gods must have hated her because she got his voicemail as Rachel's clock struck 11:00. "Percy, if you're getting this message, please call me. I love you so much. Just please call me so I know you didn't use that game."

As she hung up, Leo phone rang, effectively scaring them all. "Hello," Leo said as he put his hand over his heart to calm himself down.

"We're too late," Nico said simply as he hung up the phone.

* * *

Percy noticed as he got out of the shower that he had two missed call from Piper and two from Jason. 'Figures, Annabeth would go to them,' Percy thought to himself as he tossed his phone onto the desk. He then got to work on setting up his new machine and game. He had ten minutes until the game lunched.

By the time he had finished setting up his game, Percy had a minute left until launch of the game. As he prepared himself, Percy saw his phone light up again. This time he had been receiving a call from Annabeth, but he hadn't noticed. He was too excited to play his new game. Percy grabbed the helmet and slipped it on.

He figured that he would apologize later and tell her all about the architecture that was a part of the game. When Percy had first heard about the game he had started reading a few articles about the new game. But when Paul told him that he was getting a copy as a late birthday gift, Percy had read every article about the game he could. He even had a few friends help him when his dyslexia had really acted up. He read that Akihiko Kayaba had study a lot of different, real architectural designs as he designed his new game. Percy made sure that he would remember everything to tell his girlfriend.

He was buzzing with excitement. This was his first virtual reality game he was going to play, Hades, it was his first actual videogame that he owned. He was excited as he laid down on his bed. 'Only thirty minutes,' Percy thought to himself. He could risk thirty minutes before the monsters may come after him.

Percy smiled to himself as he spoke out loud saying, "Link start."

* * *

I promise the chapters will be longer. I just thought that this would be a great place to end. I hope that you enjoyed!


	2. Chapter 2

I can't believe the amount of people that love my story. I'm not going to promise an update schedule because I can never stick to it. But the more reviews, comments, people liking my story, and following it will encourage me to update sooner.

House cleaning before I begin. I do not own any of these characters.

I hope everyone enjoys the fast update! You all are so amazing!

* * *

Percy snapped his eyes open and looked around. He was in the main plaza with all the other players filtering in as they logged themselves in. Percy wanted to jump in excitement. Here he was, in a game that he could actually move around in and fully become a character. Percy felt like a normal teen as looked around the plaza. He was sitting in a video game.

He made his avatar appear a few years older than what he really was. After all, he could be whatever age he wanted to be. He had his same black hair and green eyes that were as close as he could to his actual eye color. Percy was wearing black pants and a gray, long sleeve, shirt. He had a light weight, leather breast plate on to offer him some protection for now, but he definitely planned on upgrading his armor as soon as he could. He wore a pair of black boots on his feet that he assumed were comfy, even if he couldn't really feel them. Last but not least, Percy had a sword hanging by his side that was identical to Riptide that would be sitting in his pocket in the real world.

Percy smirked before he took off in a direction away from the main square. He planned on making the most out of his half an hour that he would be playing. He decided to head out of the city and into the country side, or at least he hoped would be the country side. He wanted to gain as much experience as he could before he had to log out. Percy figured that he would only get about 30 minutes each day to play. He had to get to work or the ones that were really dedicated, or even the ones that got to play longer, would leave him behind on the first level while they advanced.

As he was walking around, Percy spotted a boar milling around on the hill side that he himself had wondered to. Percy smirked again before attempting to attack the boar. Percy staggered back as he failed in his first attempt to kill the beast. But Percy was not going to give up so easily. Shaking his head, Percy readied his sword and got ready to attack again. This time, Percy was able to slay the beast with no problem as he activated the sword skill and attacked.

"Hey! You're pretty good!" a voice shouted at Percy from farther up the hill.

Percy turned around and spotted two guys. One was waving to get his attention while the other just stood there.

"You want to practice with us and learn some moves from a beta tester?" the same guy called out in excitement.

"Sure," Percy said with a shrug and made his way up the hill towards the two guys. It wouldn't hurt to get some pointers from a guy who knew what he was doing.

"I'm Klein," the energic ginger said that had called out to Percy.

"And I'm Kirito," the black haired male said.

"I'm Percy," he said introducing himself to the other two players.

"That was pretty cool how you were able to kill that monster," Klein praised.

"Thanks, but I'm still learning and getting a feel for this," Percy said simply.

"Of course, most of us are. But that's why we have Kirito here. He was a beta tester and can help us learn," Klein said happily as he slapped Kirito on the back and sent the black haired teen stumbling forwards.

"Sweet, teach on," Percy smiled. He was excited to be able to get some pointers before he would have to log out.

* * *

"So why can't we just unplug it and take the helmet off?" Leo asked as and his friends stood in Percy's room.

"An article was just released," Will started as he looked around the room, "saying that the helmet should not be removed."

"What article?" Piper asked in confusion.

"I found this while we were waiting for you guys to show up," Will said as he handed his phone to Piper.

She quickly read through the article. Reading that the creator, Akihiko Kayaba, had released the Nervegear with the sole purpose of trapping the players inside. Everyone had been so excited to try the game that almost all of the 10,000 people that bought a copy of the game and Nervegear all 'dived' at the same time. Now they were all trapped and people were warned not to take the helmet off of the person wearing it, or the player would be killed. The article finished by encouraging anyone who had the machine and game to not put it on.

"So, what do we do?" Rachel asked as she looked at her friends.

"We take him back to camp," Annabeth said as she stood up. She had cried over her boyfriend, but now she was determined. She was going to get him safely to camp, first of all. Next, next her plan became tricky. It involved threatening the gods and a lot of begging.

"Right," Jason stated as he carefully went to sling his friend's arm over his shoulder.

"Wait, we're unplugging him?" Leo asked. "I thought you just said we couldn't."

"There's an internal battery that will give us enough time to get to camp," Nico said as he set down the instruction manual. He had started reading the manual so that way he would know everything that he could about the machine.

"What do we all need to take with us?" Piper asked as she looked towards the son of Hades.

"Just the power cord," Nico replied.

"Alright, that's shadow travel Percy to camp and figure out what to do next," Leo said as he rubbed his hands together.

"I'm not shadow traveling him to camp," Nico said sternly. Technology and magic have never mixed well. It was the main reason why they were supposed to stay away from technology, especially if they wanted to be attacked by everyone monstered within a hundred miles. Evidently, Percy still had not learn that lesson.

"Why not? It's faster than driving," Leo stated.

"Yes, but magic and technology don't mix. I can't take him through the shadows. I don't know what they'll do to the helmet. I for one, don't want to kill him," Nico said as he slung Percy's arm over his shoulder to help get him to Rachel's car while Jason grabbed the other arm.

"Let's head back to camp before the battery dies," Piper spoke up.

"Or before any monsters start coming for us," Will stated as he held open the door to Percy's room.

The group of teens quickly made their way down to where Rachel had parked her car.

"What are we going to tell his parents?" Piper asked as she followed the group to Rachel's car.

"We'll call them later," Jason stated as he concentrated on getting his friend to the car waiting outside.

"You'll have to take a few people by shadow travel to camp," Rachel said as she unlocked the doors to her car.

"Take Leo and Piper," Will said as he assisted Jason and his boyfriend in getting Percy into the back seat of the car.

"What?" Leo and Piper exploded. Neither one wanted to leave in fear of something happening or missing out on something.

"There's not enough room for everyone and Annabeth isn't going to leave Percy's side, plus I need to be there if something happens," Will stated as he slid into the car, cutting off what anyone was going to say to him.

Time was not on their side as it slowly ticked by. None of them knew how long the battery would last before it died. And if the battery died, then Percy was going to die as well.

Annabeth slid into the car on the other side of Percy. This time, she buckled her seatbelt.

Jason gave his girlfriend and best friend a look of apology before he got into the passenger seat. "We'll see you back at camp," Jason said as he rolled down the window.

"See you there," Piper said as she glanced into the back seat.

* * *

"Dude, this is so awesome," Percy said as he sat on the hillside with his new friends watching the sun start to set. He had lost track of time while he had been hanging out with his friends.

"When I look around, I can't believe that we're in a game," Klein said in awe. "Whoever made this was a genius. This is all just so amazing. It makes me glad I was born when I was."

"It's not that amazing," Kirito said as he stood and watched the sun set.

"Cut him some slack, for some this is our first full dive," Percy said as he laid back on the grass. He was enjoying the company of his new friends. He felt normal while he had been playing with them. No responsibilities, no quest predicting his death, no gods screwing with his life. He was free to hang out and play videogames like a normal teenager. Right now, normal was the best feeling in the world.

"You've never used the Nervegear before?" Kirito asked the black-haired teen that was laying on the ground.

"Nope, I was never allowed to play videogames growing up. But my stepdad had pulled a few strings and got me this as a late birthday present," Percy stated as he sat up.

"I had to save up for it, but as soon as I had the money, I went out and bought my Nervegear and SAO," Klein said as looked at the two players. "I stood in line and was able to score one of the 10,000 hard copies."

"I guess the two of us we're really lucky," Percy commented. He had no idea that the game had been so exclusive in its release.

"Nah, he's the lucky one," Klein said as he jerked his head towards Kirito. "He was one of the 1,000 people that were beta testers."

"How far did you make it?" Percy asked. He knew the player before him was good, he wanted to know how good.

"I was only able to get to level 8. But this time, I should be able to get to level 8 within a month," Kirito said confidently. "A single blade can take you anywhere in this game."

"Come on," Percy laughed, "let's go hunting again." As he got up, Klein's stomach made a noise signifying how hungry he was. Percy down right started laughing as Kirito smiled.

"To bad the food in this world only satisfies your hunger in this world," Kirito said with a smile.

"Yea, for real. That's why I ordered a pizza for 5:30," Klein said happily.

"Wait! How long have we been playing?" Percy asked as his face showed horror on it. The whole time he had been hanging out and training with his new friends, Percy had completely forgotten to keep an eye on the time. He also completely forgot there could have a time difference.

"It's only been four and a half hours since the lunch of the game," Kirito answered. He knew not everyone could slack off all day, but his new friend shouldn't have been that horrified.

"Oh man, my girlfriend is going to kill me," Percy said as he slid to the ground in defeat. Annabeth was going to murder him and then destroy SAO in revenge for his own stupidity.

"You have a girlfriend?" Klein asked excitedly, completely forgetting about his pizza that he had ordered. "Does she have a sister?"

"No," Percy lied. He was not going to explain how she had quite a few half-sisters.

"Dang it," Klein sighed. "Well maybe we can all hangout some time. I mean I owe both of you for helping me learn the ropes. Percy, you may be new at this, but you're just as good as a beta tester. And Kirito, thanks for everything. I really owe you. I'll pay you back, virtually that is."

The three guys all shook each other's hands

"If there is anything else you guys want to know, message me," Kirito said as he shook Klein's hand.

"Sweet, I'll do that," Klein said.

"I may not be on for a few days as I make it up to my girlfriend, but I promise that I will find you on one of the upper floors," Percy said as nodded his head to his friend. He then swiped down for the user menu. He had a smile on his face as he went to log out. "Please tell me you guys have a log out option and me not having one is just a bug," Percy said as his gut twisted as he couldn't find the log out.

"Mine's not there," Klein stated as he looked at his screen as well.

"It should be there," Kirito said as he turned around to face his friends. He even pulled down his own screen to make sure the guys weren't joking around.

"Oh well, today is what? The first day out of beta? There's bound to be some bugs," Klein said simply with a shrug.

The guys missed the panic look that flashed across Percy's face. How long was he going be stuck in here? He had already been in the game way longer than he should have. The longer he stayed in the game, more likely a monster was going to come hunting him. He needed to get out of the game, and quick before something happened to his real body.

Percy tuned back into his friends in time to watch Klein try and yank the Nervegear off of his head and Kirito explain that they couldn't log out and wouldn't be able to get the Nervegear themselves.

"So, we have to wait for someone to come find us and take this thing off our heads?" Percy asked as panic filled his voice.

Kirito nodded and Percy felt like he was going to be sick.

"Well, I live alone," Klein stated glumly. "You?" he asked Kirito.

"I got a mom and a sister, and I'm pretty sure they'll notice by dinner time-" whatever Kirito was going to say next was cut off as Klein flung himself at Kirito.

"Yo-you got a sister? How old she? What's she like?" Klein demanded.

"She's into sports and hates games," Kirito said as Percy came to his rescue and pulled Klein off of the player.

"Down boy," Percy said as he pulled Klein away from Kirito.

"Don't you think that this is weird," Kirito asked the two guys.

"Yea I guess," Klein answered. He didn't see it as that big of a deal. The developers would soon figure out the bug and they would all be able to go home.

"The developers," Kirito started but Percy interrupted him.

"They could have just shut everything down," Percy said in realization.

"If they know there's a problem, they could shut it all down and log everyone out," Kirito said with a nod.

As they came to this conclusion, a loud bell started to chime in the distance, gaining all of their attention.

The next thing they knew, the three of them were back in the main plaza.

"Someone forced a teleport," Kirito said as he looked at Percy.

"Look, up there," Percy said as he gestured to the red warning in the sky before more filled the whole entire sky.

"What the hell is that?" Klein asked as he watched the red goo like substance leak between the cracks of the warnings.

"Attention players," the thing said as it became a cloaked figure. "I welcome you to my world."

"What does he mean by that?" Kirito asked as he kept his eyes on the cloaked figure.

"My name is Akihiko Kayaba, and as of this moment, I am in control of this world," Akihiko Kayaba said.

Kirito gasped in realization.

"I'm sure most of you have already realized an item missing from your main menu," he continued as he swiped his hand down. "Let me assure you this is not a defect in the game. I repeat, this is not a defect. This is how Sword Art Online was designed to be played."

"He's kidding, right?" Klein asked in shock.

"You cannot log yourself out of SAO, and no one from the outside can shut down or remove the Nervegear from your head. If anyone attempts to do so, a transmitter inside the Nervegear will transmit a microwave signal into your skull, destroying your brain and ending your life," Akihiko Kayaba continued as if it was no big deal that people could really die from his creations.

"Are you listening to this crap," Klein said as he turned to Percy and Kirito. "He's got be nuts, right Kirito?"

"He's not," Kirito said he sorted through his own thoughts and feelings. "The transmitter signals in the head gear work just like microwaves. If the safety is disabled, he could fry your brain."

"Can't someone just cut the power?" Percy asked as he tried hard to keep the fear out of his voice.

"That won't work," Kirito answered as he looked over at his friend.

"Despite my warning, the family and friends of some of the players have attempted to remove the Nervegear. An unfortunate decision to say the least. As a result, the game now has 213 less players than when it began. They've been deleted from both Aincrad and real world," Akihiko Kayaba said. To Percy it sounded as if he was proud of himself.

"213," Kirito said in amazement and horror.

"No way," Klein stated. "I don't believe it!"

"That's-" Percy wanted to say impossible, but his words failed him.

"As you can see," Akihiko Kayaba continued, "international media outlets have round the clock coverage, including the deaths. At this point, it safe to assume that the likely hood of a Nervegear being removed is minimal at best. I hope this brings you a little comfort as you try to clear the game. It's important that you remember the following: there is no longer any way to revive someone within the game. If your HP drops to zero, your avatar will be deleted from the system forever and the Nervegear will simultaneously destroy your brain. There is only one way for a player to escape now. You must clear the game. Right now, you're gathered on floor one, the lowest level of Aincrad. If you can get through the dungeon and defeat the boss, you may advance to the next floor. Defeat the boss on floor 100 and you will defeat the game."

"We can't clear all 100 hundred floors," Klein said as the information sunk in. "That freakin impossible. Even the beta testers didn't get that high!"

"Last but not least, I've placed a little present in the item storage of every player. Please have a look," he said simply.

"So generous," Percy muttered to himself as he pulled up his item storage to see what had been placed.

"A mirror?" Kirito said confused as he selected his mirror.

The next thing they knew, they were being engulfed in a blue light.

"Klein!" both Percy and Kirito shouted as their friend let out some noises in surprise.

As the light faded, all three guys started glancing around for each other.

"Are you okay Kirito?" Klein asked.

"I'm fine but who are you?" Kirito asked as he looked for his friends.

"I'm me, who are you?" Klein asked as he noticed a black haired teen standing where Percy had been standing.

"This is what we look like in the real world," Percy said as he dropped his mirror. "Means Klein? Kirito?" Percy asked as he moved closer to the younger teen and young adult.

"But how?" Klein asked as he faced Kirito and Percy.

"Then scan, there's a high denticity signal device in the Nervegear. But how does it know my height and body type?" Kirito asked.

"When you first put the Nervegear on you had to do a calibration thing. It asked you to touch your body all over like this, remember," Klein said as he patted his arms.

"Oh yea," Kirito said as he remembered doing that a while ago when he had been a beta tester.

"But… But why? Why do all this anyway?" Klein demanded as he tried to think of an actual reason.

"I think he's about to tell us," Kirito answered as he pointed towards the creator of the game and captor.

"Right now, you're probably wondering why? Why would Akihiko Kayaba, developer of Sword Art Online and Nervegear, do this?" Kayaba asked. He then paused to let everything sink in. "Ultimately my goal was a simple one, the reason I created Sword Art Online was to control the fate of a world of my design."

"Great, he's as bad as the gods," Percy muttered under his breath. Never had normal sucked so much.

"As you can see, I have achieved that goal. This marks the end of the tutorial and the official launch of Sword Art Online. Players, I wish you the best of luck," Kayaba said as he started to dissolve.

Once he faded away and the realization set in, everyone started to panic. If Percy had been a normal teen, he probably would have been joining in on the mass hysteria that was happening. But he had survived two wars, countless monsters, gods that wanted him dead, he was not going to die in some video game.

"Percy, Klein, come on," Kirito said as he grabbed their hands and took off towards the edge of the city. "Okay, listen, I'm heading out right now towards the next village and I want you two to come with. If what he said was true, and I think it is. We're only going to survive is if we make ourselves as strong as possible."

"There will only be a limited amount of supplies," Percy concluded. He knew that Kirito was desperate to make sure that the three of them survived this whole thing. "And everyone will be heading out into the surrounding area to try and become as strong as possible." It made sense, the area around the town of beginning would be the easiest. But it would quickly all be used up by all the new players. If they could venture further in first, they would level up faster.

"I know the paths that we should take, and where we should avoid. Even if I'm level one, I can still get there easy," Kirito said confidently.

"Thanks, but you know those friends I was telling you about. We stood in line all night to buy this game and they're back at the plaza somewhere. And I can't leave them," Klein said as his voice was full of remorse.

Percy shot a look at Kirito. He knew what he was thinking. The three of them were going to have a hard-enough time, but add a few more… But at the same time, Percy wanted to bring them along. He didn't want them, or anyone else, to be left behind. He wanted as many people as possible to get out of this game.

"Sorry, I can't ask a guy I just met to risk his neck for me," Klein said confidently.

Percy wanted to argue, but as Klein explained how he ran a guild in his last game, Percy knew that he wasn't going to come with.

"But hey, I want you two to promise me something," Klein said. "I want you two to stick together. Watch out for each other."

"If you're ever in a jam, message me," Kirito said as he nodded his head.

Percy nodded his head in agreement. If Klein ever needed his help, he would come running to his aid. Both Percy and Kirito turned around to leave.

"Wait!" Klein shouted desperately. "Kirito, Percy, you guys look better. Way cooler than your avatars.

Percy smiled as Kirito turned and addressed Klein. "I think that scruffy face suits you ten times better too."

"Bye Klein!" Percy shouted as he turned around one last time.

"Let's go," Kirito said as he looked back as well.

"You sure you got this?" Percy asked as he started down the alley.

"Yes, I'm not going to let this game beat me," Kirito stated as he quickened his pass.

Percy easily kept up with the younger teen. He couldn't help but agree. He was going to beat the game. He was going to get back to Annabeth and then rest of his friends. He had a life outside of this game and he was going to get back to it. The world was not going to beat him.


	3. Chapter 3

**So, to answer Flo463 question, this takes place after Gaia's death. I have not read Trials of Apollo. I started but I just couldn't get into it. I also plan on trying to stay true to the story line of SAO. But as I said in chapter one, I'm throwing characters into a story that they don't belong in. So, some of you might hate this story and that's okay. This might not be a story for you. But I got the idea and it stuck in my head until I started typing. Things are going to be different. Percy if fiercely loyal, he's going to stick with his friends no matter what. *sorry spoilers***

 **Also, to answer PercyJthewizard, I'm a huge Percebeth shipper. I have since day one. Sorry, the two will stay together.**

 **A shout out to everyone that has reviewed and subscribed to my story. You all are amazing!**

 **Also, this is not my first crossover, but it is my first crossover that follows a plot line from a story. So, please, if you have an idea on how to make it better PM me and talk with me.**

* * *

12/01

"There has to be a way to get him out of that game!" Annabeth roared at the gods seated before her. It had been almost a month since the game had trapped Percy and so many others. But at the moment, she didn't care about all those other players. She only cared about one person that was trapped.

Every day, Annabeth had come before the gods and begged them to do something. And every day, she got the same answer, there is nothing we can do. They kept telling her that it was not their business to interfere with.

"Annabeth," her mother started.

"Don't! You don't care about him or me!" Annabeth snapped as she pointed an accusing finger at her mother. She was still not happy with her mother for disowning her and then sending her on a quest that almost killed her.

"This is none of our concern," Zeus said simply. "This is an affair that the mortals need to take care of, not us gods."

"What about Percy?" Annabeth shouted at them. She stared at them all in disbelief.

"What about him?" Hera said simply.

"I say we leave the upstart in the game, less of a headache we have to deal with," Ares said matter-of-factly.

"That is my son you want to leave in there," Poseidon stated as he sent a glare at his nephew.

Poseidon, Hestia, and Artemis were the only gods that were willing to do something about the game. But, majority of the council hadn't seemed to have decided on helping Percy or not wanting to help, so nothing was to be done.

"Percy has saved your butts twice now! He has served in two wars for you!" Annabeth shouted. "He fell into Tartarus to close the doors for you, he battled Kronos and the giants to save you! Percy returned your master bolt! Why won't you step in and help the savior of Olympus!"

"That upstart deserves to be locked away!" Zeus shouted in rage. "He should be grateful that we allowed him to help and serve us."

"So that's how you feel? That we are nothing more than tools for you?" Annabeth questioned.

"Yes," Zeus spat. How dare this child of Athena act like this, he should blast her off Olympus for her insolence. He didn't care if she was the architect of Olympus, she was an upstart like the brat of Poseidon.

"If that is the case, no demigod at Camp Half-blood will lift a finger to help you until Percy is safely out of the game," Annabeth said calmly as her rage hit it's boiling point and she had become deathly calm. She was a senior counselor, at least her siblings would listen to her. Once she would tell the other counselors, they would agree with her. Percy held most of them together. He inspired loyalty amongst everyone. If the gods refused to help, then they would refuse to help them. Annabeth turned to exit the throne room. "If Percy dies in that game because you refused to help, there will be a war. You can count on that."

Annabeth then calmly walked out of the throne room.

"What were you thinking?" Poseidon shouted at his brother.

"Please, like the demigods would refuse us," Zeus said arrogantly. "They need us, not the other way around."

* * *

Annabeth made it back to camp with no complications. As she strolled through the camp boarder she caught sight of the many demigods running around. All of them were going about their daily lives, laughing and having fun. The word tool popped into her head. That's all Zeus thought of them. They were tools to do the bidding of the gods. If that was the case, then these tools were going to be kept on the shelf away from the gods.

"How did it go?" Thalia asked as she ran up to Annabeth. She had been waiting at the border ever since Annabeth had left.

"Not so good. Help to spread the news that there needs to be a war council meeting," Annabeth said with a sigh.

Thalia nodded her head as she walked away. She quickly started finding the senior counselors and told them to meet in the big house.

"How did your audience with the gods go?" Chiron asked as Annabeth walked up the steps of the big house.

"Not so good. I may have pissed them off," Annabeth said as she ran her fingers through her hair. "Thalia is gathering the others for a council meeting." Annabeth walked into the big house and down the hall to where Percy's body was laying.

Every day, she had visited Percy. At first, she was doing it see if he had beaten the game yet. Now she did it to make sure that he was still alive and hadn't got himself killed in the game. She wanted him so badly to just wake up, flash her his signature smirk, and call her Wisegirl. Annabeth let out a ragged breath as she looked down at her boyfriend.

"We're ready," Piper said gently as she entered the room.

Annabeth nodded her head before following Piper to the Ping Pong Table where the rest of the counselors were sitting.

"What happened?" Connor asked as soon as he saw Annabeth.

"I pissed off the gods," Annabeth stated.

Under normal circumstances, someone would have laughed. Annabeth always seemed to have made the gods mad in some way. But now, no one laughed.

"The gods are refusing to help us. Zeus says that Sword Art Online is a mortal affair and they will not get involved. He then said that Percy should be left in the game," Annabeth explained as she kept her emotions in check. It would do no good to yell at her only allies. "I then reminded him of all that Percy has done and what we have done. Zeus said that we should be grateful that we were able to fight in their wars." Annabeth sat there and gaged all her fellow counselors' reactions.

"There's more in isn't there," Chiron pushed.

"Push came to shove, I accused them of only looking at us like tools," Annabeth sighed, she was not going to get mad at a bunch of people who did not care about them. "Zeus then said that we are tools, and I lost my temper. I told them that until Percy was safe, Calf Half-blood would not do anything to help the gods."

"You also declared war on the gods," Mr. D said as he strolled into the Rec Room.

"Child?" Chiron asked as he whipped his head around to look at Annabeth.

Everyone else stared wide eyed at their blonde leader.

"I told them that if Percy died in the game, there would be a war," Annabeth stated. She was not going to apologize for trying to get back her boyfriend.

"Bold move," Mr. D stated as he sat down in what would have been Percy's seat if he had been there. "But you did get a few more gods to side with you. Hephaestus says that his boy Lincoln can help."

"Um, it's Leo sir," Leo said attentively.

"Whatever, you and your dad can get you into the game," Mr. D said as he waved his hand and a Diet Coke appeared.

"Why are the gods now helping?" Piper asked.

"A few gods know how powerful you are, blah blah blah. They think that we need you and you are more than tools, which I agree. I have my own kids that I worry about but Zeus doesn't seem to care. Too big of an ego," Mr. D said before he took a drink.

"I can get us in there, but how do we get out?" Leo asked, in fact he had been trying to get his hands on the Nervegear. He wanted to find a way to reprogram it without hurting Percy.

"Oh, you don't, it's still a one-way trip inside until the game is defeated. But now at least the brat won't be alone when he dies in the game," Mr. D said simply as he looked at all the demigods in the room.

He may seem like he didn't care, but the truth was, he cared a little bit for them. He wouldn't have come back after the giant war if he hadn't. Zeus had given him the option, and Dionysus had chosen to return to the camp. They were all heroes and deserved some sort of happiness. That was why he voted to do something about Poseidon's brat.

"But if we're in there, we could help him and the thousands of other players that are trapped in there," Annabeth stated. It may be a one way, but they could help save other people and get those people out. "Leo, can you and your siblings work on getting me in there?"

"You?" Thalia asked. "What makes you think you get to go?"

"It's my boyfriend trapped inside that game," Annabeth said as she gripped the table.

"I think what Thalia means to say is, what makes you think you're going alone?" Jason said as he gave Annabeth a look that said he was going.

"But-" Annabeth started to argue.

"Percy's our friend too, so we're going in after him," Frank said from where he, Hazel, and Reyna stood off to the side. They had come after Jason had explained what had happened and why he was not coming back when he said that he was going to.

"Fine, but not everyone can go," Annabeth said. In case everything went wrong, she didn't want the all of the senior counselors, who were all friends with Percy, to die trying to rescue him.

"I say the Annabeth, Leo, Jason, Piper, Hazel, Frank, Nico, Will, and Thalia," Clarisse stated matter-of-factly.

To say the least everyone in the room was shocked at Clarisse. They stood there with their mouths' hanging wide open.

"What?" she demanded. "Oh, come on, like you six weren't going. Nico, Thalia, and Percy are all really close. And Will goes wherever Nico goes," Clarisse said with an eye roll. Sure, she was a fighter, but she also was a strategist. That meant she knew who worked well with who, who was loyal to who, and who would stop at nothing for who. She could walk into the sword arena and tell which person they would best be paired with, fight against to win or lose to. So, it was an obvious choice on who was going to go help Percy.

Nobody responded to what Clarisse said. They never expected the daughter of war to have picked up on their relationship with each other.

"Good plan," Mr. D said as he got up and walked out of the room.

"I'll get started on working," Leo said as he left the room to double his efforts in finding a helmet.

"How long do you think it will take," Annabeth said as everyone that was not chosen to go into the game filed out of the room.

"I don't know," Piper answered honestly. Even with the gods helping them, they had to be careful with how they proceeded. One wrong move could have disastrous effects on everyone.

* * *

12/02

"I can't believe that it's been almost whole month," Percy whispered out loud.

Kirito nodded his head. It had been a hard month, over 2,000 people had died since the start of the game. To make matters worse, none of the players had been able to clear floor one.

"The meeting is today, isn't it?" Percy asked from where he sat against the wall, while Kirito stood against it.

"Yea, the meeting to find and defeat the floor one boss," Kirito said in confirmation.

Sighing, Percy stood up. "Well, we better head to the amphitheater."

The two slowly made their way to where the meeting was supposed to be held. Percy took his time to look around. He had slowly been trying to memorize each person that was still there. He wondered how many people would make it to the end and how many would not. But he felt like he owed it to them to remember them.

"Stop thinking about it," Kirito spoke up suddenly, startling Percy out of his thoughts.

"What?" Percy exclaimed as they walked down the steps to find a seat.

"You're thinking about who is going to make it out. Stop, you'll kill yourself that way," Kirito said quietly.

"How did you know?" Percy asked just as quietly.

"Because I wonder about the same thing," Kirito answered as man with blue hair took the center stage.

"Okay people! Now that everyone's here, let's get this meeting started," he exclaimed. "So, any ways, I want to thank everyone for coming. Good to see you," he said cheerfully. "My name is Diabel. In this game, the job I rolled is knight." Diabel smiled as he talked.

'He's good,' Percy thought to himself as he watched the blue haired man talk. He was getting the crowd laughing to pay attention.

"Dude, there's no job system in this game," one player shouted out while laughing. Many other players chuckled and laughed as well.

Diabel suddenly became serious, looking at all the players that gathered, he spoke, saying, "Right, here's the deal. Our Party found the boss room at the top of the tower."

People all around the amphitheater started muttering about the news. The boss room being found meant they were a step closer to getting out.

"First, we need to defeat the boss and make it to floor two. The next step is, we have to tell everyone waiting in the Town of Beginnings that it is possible to beat this game. Fact is, it's our duty as the most capable players here. Do you agree or not?" Diabel challenged.

The people gathered looked at one another. Slowly people started cheering.

'He knows how to rally people,' Percy thought as he clapped.

"Okay, glad to hear you're all with me on this. Now let's figure out how we're going to beat the boss. First off, we'll team up into parties of six," Diabel said.

At this Kirito exclaimed.

"Dude, we're short a few players," Percy sighed as he looked at his friend.

The two looked around for more players to join their party.

"A typical party doesn't stand a chance against the floor boss," Diabel exclaimed as he watched the players gathered start to form parties. "We need a raid group made up of multiple parties."

Percy and Kirito looked around at each other. Everyone seemed to have found their groups. That was when Kirito spotted a player sitting alone. Kirito pointed towards the single player before scooching himself down the row to sit by them.

"You got left out too?" Kirito asked as he and Percy sat down beside the player.

"Not even," she stated, "I wasn't left out. It just seems that everyone is already friends."

"So, you're a solo player?" Kirito stated. "You want to form a party with us?" Kirito asked. He noticed the hesitancy from the lone player.

"You heard what the guy said, we can't beat the boss on our own," Percy stated, trying to sway the player. After all, a party of three was a lot better off than a party of two.

"And it would only be for this fight," Kirito interjected.

The female player seemed to think over her options before nodding her head.

Kirito then pulled up his main screen and sent the player a party invitation. The girl, Asuna, excepted the invitation to join Percy and Kirito.

"All right, looks like everyone is teamed up," Diabel said happily as he looked around. "Now then-"

"Hold up a sec!" a player shouted from the top of the amphitheater. He then jumped down the steps to make his way to the main stage. "My name's Kibaou, got that! Before we take on the boss, I wanna get something off my chest. We all know about the 2,000 people who died so far, yea? Well some of you need to apologize to them right now!" Kibaou pointed an accusing finger at the players gathered.

Many of the players gathered were taken aback at the claim. After all, what did they have to apologize for.

"Kibaou, I think I know who you're referring to," Diabel said. "You're referring to the ex-beta testers, right?"

"Of course, I mean them!" he exclaimed. "The day this stupid game started, the beta guys just up and vanished, right? They ditched all us beginners! They snagged all the good hunting spots, and they grabbed the easy quests too. So, they were the only ones getting stronger in here. This whole time they just ignored us like we're nothing! Hell, I bet there's even some of them here! Come on out beta testers! We should make them apologize to us and make them give up their money and items they got! They can't expect the party to trust them when they don't trust us. Why should we?"

Percy held back a groan. "And this is how you destroy an alliance," Percy muttered. He then looked over at his friend. Percy could tell that Kirito was struggling with what the new guy said. Hades, even he felt a little guilty about it. "Don't," Percy whispered to Kirito, snapping him out of his thoughts.

"Can I say something?" a guy asked at the same time Percy whispered to Kirito. A tall man made his way down front to talk. "Hey, my name's Agil. Kibaou, right? I want to make sure we're on the same page. You say that the ex-beta testers should be blamed for the rookies' deaths because they didn't help, and you want them to apologize and give up their winnings? I leave anything out?"

"No," Kibaou huffed, "you didn't."

"The item store hands these out for free," Agil said as he held up a small book. "You got one, didn't you?"

"Sure, I got one! So, what about it?" Kibaou challenged.

"You know who was handing these out? The ex-beta testers," Agil stated.

This information got many people to react.

"Listen up, everyone had equal access to this information. Even so, lots of players still died. Now, I didn't come here to point fingers at anyone. I'm here because I want to learn from those players deaths. I'm here because I want to know how we're going to beat the boss," Agil explained, affectively defusing the situation that Kibaou had created.

Said player, huffed at the taller player before sitting himself down on the first row.

"Okay, can we get back to the meeting now," Diabel said as he focused everyone back to the situation at hand. Diabel then raised his guide book and explained about the boss that they were going up against. He explained who the boss was and what he was supposed to be like. After he finished explaining what the guide book said about the boss. Diabel started to explain about how the winning were going to be divided.

* * *

That night as Percy and Kirito walked around the village square. Kirito asked Percy, "How did you know I was going to say something?"

"Because like you said earlier how you had been having the same thoughts. I wanted to say something, even those I'm not a beta tester, I'm just as good. You said so yourself," Percy said as they tried to find a place to sit and to eat. "I thought about speaking up."

"Percy, your loyalty might just get us killed one day," Kirito sighed as the two of them made their way away from the main square where the raiding parties were celebrating.

"I know," Percy said quietly. "Hey, I'm going to go back to the inn."

Kirito nodded his head as he continued to walk around.

"Don't stay out too late, we have a boss fight in the morning," Percy laughed as he turned around to head to where the two were staying.

Kirito smiled before stating, "Yea, I here ya."

* * *

The next morning found Percy, Kirito, and Asuna walking behind the rest of raiding party. The three were talking strategy on how they were going to fight in boss room.

"Let's go over it again, we're the back up. Our target is going to be the minions, the Ruin Kobold Sentinels," Kirito explained.

"I know," Asuna stated.

"Percy and I will you a sword skill to knock their weapons up and out of the way. When one of us do, switch and jump in," Kirito said. "If need be, Percy can also switch in."

"What's a switch?" she asked innocently.

That single question brought both boys up short.

"Okay, level with me? Is this the first time you've ever been in a party?" Kirito asked.

"Mmhm," she agreed.

"We are going to have our work cut out for us," Percy said with a sigh.

The group continued on toward the tower where the boss was supposed to reside. As they walked, Percy and Kirito attempted to describe to Asuna how to perform a switch. They also continued to talk strategy as they made their way to where the first-floor boss was waiting for them.

Finally, they made it the entrance of the boss. Diabel brought everyone to stop before speaking. "Listen up everyone. I only got one thing to say to you," he addressed the crowd. "Let's win! Come on!" With his simple speech finished, Diabel pushed open the doors.


	4. Chapter 4

I'm so sorry that I have not updated in a while. I have had a lot of things going on in my life. Thank you to everyone for bearing with me. Also, to all you new people, welcome. Thank you so much for encouraging me to continue. I hope you enjoy, and I will try to update sooner and regularly.

* * *

The doors slowly opened inwards into the dark room. Everyone followed Diabel's lead and crept into the room, weapons at the ready. As they moved forwards, Percy noticed the beast sitting on the throne. Once they got far enough into the room, the room seemed to come alive. Light blazed forth and lit the room up. Illfang the Kobold Lord sprang from his throne and met the players in the center of the room.

Percy looked to his right to make sure that his friend and new party member were by his side as the minions appeared. He was not going to be able to do this alone.

"Commence attack!" Diabel ordered as the opposition closed in.

Many of the players gave out a war cry as they too ran to meet the enemy head on. Chaos ensued as both sides clashed their weapons. The first fight with a boss ensued.

Diabel took stock of the situation and started shouting out orders to the different players. "Squads A and C, switch in. Here it comes, Squad C, block!" Diabel appeared cool and in control as he shouted out orders. Diabel was able to use the players to the best of their abilities. "Squad C, keep guarding and prepare to switch. Everyone else, when you fall back, regroup and flank them. Squads D, E, and F, keep those sentinels off us."

Percy couldn't help but be impressed at Diabel's leadership. He had only saw a few other demigods be able to lead like that. This player was able to lead his troops into battle and keep them rallied as they attacked.

"Percy!" Kirito called as he closed in for an attack.

'Don't get distracted,' Percy thought to himself as he prepared himself for an attack. 'Now is not the time to get distracted.' Percy set to work attacking the sentinels. Their job was to hold back the grunts. Keep these grunts from overwhelming the force attacking Illfang. "Right," Percy stated as he started to attack again.

Percy hated fighting grunts, he decided as he slashed another grunt into oblivion. They always seemed to be never ending. It did not matter if he was fighting Kronos' lackeys or what, but there always seemed to be a never-ending supply of them. Whenever they would destroy a grunt, another one was there to take its' place. The fighters could be worn down, but grunts and sentinels always seemed to keep coming.

Percy right now was fighting on his own. He wasn't too worried about Kirito. The two had been working together for over a month now. Kirito had great skill and would come out just fine. No, the one who worried him was the girl that wore her hood up and seemed to very shy and quiet. He had no idea what her skill level was and so Percy made sure that he didn't stray too far while fighting. He wasn't about to lose a friend in the first boss fight due to a player not being a good fighter.

Kirito attacked the sentinel, he then jumped back and yelled switched. Percy slashed his sentinel and turned. He was ready to switch with Kirito when someone else took up the challenge.

Asuna raced forwards to attack. As she moved, she yelled, "I'm on it!" She made quick work of the sentinel

"She's good," Percy said as he blocked a strike from one of the minions.

"I know, I thought she was a beginner. But she's got good skills," Kirito praised as he switched with Percy.

The three of them continued to work together to take down the minions. The three were making good headway against the sentinels when Illfang let out a deafening roar and tossed his weapons aside. The others had worn him down to almost the end of boss's health.

"Looks like the guide book was right," Kibaou stated with a smirk. They were going to win this fight, he was sure of it.

"Stand back," Diabel ordered as he raced forwards. "I got it!"

"I thought that the plan was for everyone to surround it?" Kirito asked as he and Percy stopped their attacks long enough to watch Diabel launch himself forwards towards Illfang.

"Something's not right," Percy muttered. Call it years of almost getting killed as a demigod or whatever you want, but Percy knew that something was not right with Illfang and Diabel casting aside the plan so easily.

Kirito gasped before stating, "That's not a Talwar! It's a No Dachi!"

"Different weapons, mean different fighting styles," Percy ground out as he slashed his opponent with his blade. The minions had started to attack again, this time with more strength.

"This isn't like the beta test," Kirito stated as he clashed weapons with his minion that attacked him. "Wait, stop! It's no good! Get out of there!" Kirito shouted a warning. Illfang was not going to attack like he had in the beta test.

Diabel didn't appear to hear. He stayed in the center of the room as Illfang started to attack him. Diabel was not prepared for the deadly, and rapid attacks from Illifang. He let out a cry as he was slashed a crossed the chest and sent flying.

"Diabel!" Kibaou shouted as his leader went flying past him. His attention was then drawn back to Illfang as he jumped into the midst of the players.

"Diabel!" Kirito shouted as he and Percy took off running towards the fallen leader. They forgot all about the sentinels in favor of trying to help the defeated player.

"What the Hades were you thinking?" Percy demanded as Kirito fished a healing potion out of his pocket.

Diabel grabbed Kirito's hand with a healing potion. "You know, you were a beta tester too, weren't you?"

Kirito was taken aback as Diabel spoke to him. "You were after the last attack bonus, the rare item. You're just like me, a beta tester."

Diabel gave a slight smile as his health continued to drop. "Please, you have to defeat the boss," he told Kirito. "You," he spoke to Percy. "I never thought I would see another one of us in here."

Percy looked shocked as Diabel's health hit zero and his body disintegrated into thousands of lights. He had been a half-blood Percy realized as he looked up at Kirito. Another demigod had been trapped inside of the game. Another demigod had died because he hadn't stepped up to lead. Kirito looked ready to charge the boss. Talking a deep breath, Percy stood up. 'No more,' Percy thought to himself. 'If there are more demigods in this place, I won't let another one die.'

"I'll go too," Asuna stated as she came up to the two of them.

"Okay," Kirito stated as he steeled his nerves. The three of them then rushed Illfang together. "We'll hit him just like we did the minions!"

"Right," Percy stated as he ran.

"You got it," Asuna stated as she prepared herself.

Kirito made the first move. He used his blade to knock Illfang's up into the air. Asuna and Percy then made their way in close.

"Asuna!" Kirito shouted as Illfang moved his blade too fast, but Percy was faster and able to deflect it away from the female of their party. He was not fast enough though for Illfang to completely miss Asuna. His blade cut through the cloak that she was wearing. She then dodged around Percy and stabbed Illfang in the stomach.

"He's coming back!" Kirito shouted as he rushed forwards again. The three of them worked well together. Kirito or Percy would block and then Asuna would strike. They were able to keep Illfang off his guard as they continued to press their attacked. That was until Illfang brought his sword around faster than before. He struck Kirito across the chest and sent him flying backwards into Asuna. The force sent both of them tumbling backwards across the floor.

"Kirito! Asuna!" Percy shouted as he stepped in between his comrades and the floor boss.

Illfang made his way forwards towards the trio. He looked down on Percy and readied his sword for an attack. Percy braced himself, and then shot forwards. But he wasn't alone when he struck Illfang. Percy looked to his left and saw that Agil had come forwards for the attack.

"We can hold him off until your health's back up," Agil stated.

"You got it," Kirito stated as he propped himself up.

Players rushed forwards to attack. They seemed to refuse to be beaten. As they rushed forwards in attack, Illfang pushed them all back and sprang up into the air.

Both Kirito and Percy readied themselves and jumped into the air, ready to meet the beast head-on. "Help us Asuna, one last attack," Kirito shouted. Kirito steeled himself for one last attack.

Percy nodded his head as he rushed forwards.

"You got it!" Asuna stated as she too joined the boys up front.

Three preformed one last combo attack. Kirito knocking Illfang's weapon up. Asuna coming in right behind him and stabbing Illfang. Then Percy and Kirito, both slashing Illfang and destroying him. Illfang was knocked into the air. Here he floated and then started to burst into thousands of lights.

As the lights faded, people started murmuring. Their murmurs quickly turned into shouts of excitement. Illfang was defeated, they had finally made it past the first level! They were onto the next level of this death game!

Percy and Kirito knelt on the ground together, recovering their breath from the last attack. They both looked up at the same time and saw that they both had won the last attack bonus.

"I thought that only one player got this?" Kirito stated in amazement.

"Dude, don't complain," Percy laughed as he sent a grin towards his friend. "We just beat him."

"Nice job," Asuna stated as she and Agil approach the two boys still kneeling on the floor.

"That was some fine swordsmanship," Agil praised the two of them. "Congratulations! Today's victory is all thanks to you guys."

"No," Kirito denied.

"Yea, you guys rock," a player shouted. Most of the others started cheering for them.

"Stop cheering!" Kibaou shouted from the back of the group. Everyone stopped immediately. "Why'd you do it? Why'd you let Diabel die?"

"Let him die?" Kirito asked as he looked over at Percy.

Percy looked just as confused. 'They hadn't let him just die, Kirito had tried to warn him and heal him,' Percy thought.

"That's what I said! Admit it! You knew the technique the boss would use! You could have told us! Then Diabel would have stood a chance! He wouldn't have died!" Kibaou shouted with rage. He was looking for someone to blame for the death of his leader.

"I know why he knew! He used to be a beta tester!" a player shouted with rage. "Think about it," he continued. "He knew the bosses attack patterns. He knew, but he kept it from us! And I bet he's not the only beta tester here! Come on, show yourselves!"

People started murmuring and looking suspiciously at one another. They appeared as if they were going to start fighting against each other. Beta testers against the rest.

"This is bad," Kirito whispered to Percy.

"At this rate everyone is going to wind up killing each other," Percy finished as he looked around the room.

"We have to do something," Kirito agreed. Everyone seemed to forget about the hard-fought victory they just earned.

Percy saw the look on Kirito's face. "I'm with you. We promised Klein that we would look out for each other. I got your back."

"Thanks," Kirito whispered. "Just, just follow my lead." It was good to know that he was going to have one ally after everything that was going to happen. Taking a breath, Kirito started laughing. At first it was a slight chuckle, but then it grew into a maniacal laugh.

Percy turned and gave everyone his best crazed look as he too started to laugh. Percy had an inkling of an idea of where Kirito was going with his plan.

"So, you guys think that I used to be a beta tester? You here that Percy? They're comparing us to those losers," Kirito taunted as he turned to look at his friend.

"It's not cool to put us in the same class as those newbs," Percy said as he got up.

"W-what'd you say?" Kibaou stuttered as he looked at the two.

"You heard me," Percy said as he walked towards the group.

"Most of the 1,000 who scored a slot in SAO's beta were rookies," Kirito said as he and Percy made their way through the group of players. "They were so green, most didn't even know how to level up. Hell, even you guys are better than they were."

"But us, we're nothing like those guys," Percy said as he purposefully nocked his shoulder against Kibaou's.

"During the beta, we made it to floors higher than any of the other testers," Kirito stated proudly.

"That's a fact," Percy stated as he stopped beside Kirito.

"I knew about the boss, because we fought tons of monsters with way more swords skills on higher floors," Kirito smirked at Percy. They were going to pull this off. They were becoming the new targets.

"We know a bunch of other things too. Way more than you can imagine. Way more than any info broker," Percy said as smirked at the rest of the group. The two of them made it sound like they could take down the entire 100 floors by themselves.

"W-what the hell?" Kibaou exclaimed. "If that's true, then you're worse than a beta tester! You're a goddamn cheater, that's what you two are!"

Now the players had a new set of targets. People started shouting at the pair of black haired teens.

"They're beta testers and cheaters! They are beaters!" a player shouted.

"A beater, I like it. What do you think Percy?" Kirito asked, happy with the new term.

"I like it too, they won't get us mixed up with those beta testers anymore," Percy smirked as they both opened up their item menu. The pair equipped themselves in the bonus item they got for the final attack bonus. Both Kirito and Percy donned new, black coats. Percy's had midnight blue running along his shoulders where Kirito's was a dark gray.

With one final chuckle, both teens made their way to the stairs, leaving everyone at a standstill in shock over what they had heard.

"Wait!" Asuna said as she followed the pair up the stairs. Both boys paused in their tracks. "When we were fighting the boss, you called me by my real name."

"I wasn't trying to be rude," Kirito said. "Did I mess up the pronunciation?"

"How'd you even know it?" she asked.

"If you look right about here, you can see another HP gauge right under yours," Kirito said as he pointed upwards. "There's a couple of names written under it.

"Kirito, Percy," she read hesitantly. "Your name's Kirito and you are Percy?"

"Yeah," Kirito sighed.

Asuna let out a laugh before speaking, "I'm so dumb, it was there the whole time and I never knew."

"You can become powerful on your own. But if the day comes and someone you trust invites you to loin a guild, don't turn it down. Because there are limits to what a solo player can do," Kirito stated as faced away from Asuna.

"But you're solo," Asuna said.

"No, he has me," Percy spoke up from where he was waiting at the top of the stairs.

Kirito then opened his menu and disbanded the party. Percy offered Asuna a smile before the two of them disappeared through the door to the next floor.

"You don't have to come with me," Kirito said as the two walked through the portal.

As they appeared on the other side, Percy said, "As I told you before, I'm not leaving you. Besides, who else are you going to get to watch your back. We kinda just made ourselves enemies of everyone."

Kirito let out a sigh. He was actually a little afraid that Percy would back out and he would be alone.

"Come on, I don't want to be anywhere near here when the other players start coming through," Percy stated as he walked through the town.

"What? You want to head to the next town over to find an inn?" Kirito asked. It was only about two in the afternoon, but the two of them had helped to take down a boss.

"Sure," Percy said simply. "We'll need to level up more anyways. I don't want other players to be coming after us and we can't hold them off."

"You're saying that we actually become beaters?" Kirito asked in amazement.

"The rest of the players are going to hate us. We told them that we are crazy strong and know things that other players wouldn't know. I wouldn't put it past that one guys, Kibaou, did I pronounce his name right?" Percy asked, getting himself distracted.

"Yes," Kirito said as he nodded head.

"I don't want that guy to come gunning for us later on. It wasn't our fault that Diabel died, but Kibaou thinks that it was," Percy said as they made it to the edge of the town. "If were not strong enough, we're not going to make it very far."

"Okay," Kirito agreed as the two of them stepped onto the path. "Percy, can I ask you a question?"

"Sure," Percy said as he readied his sword for an attack. They were now out of the safe zone. Percy did not know what to expect as he they started their journey to the next town.

"What did Diabel mean when he said that he never thought he would see another one of us in here?" Kirito asked as minor beast popped up along the path.

Percy was able to easily dispatch the monster. "I don't know," he lied. "But when I figure it out, I'll tell you." He wasn't ready yet to tell his friend that he was a half-blood. He knew that someday the truth would come out, but for now, it was his secret. A secret that he was going to keep to himself.

* * *

"Leo," Annabeth called as she entered into the Hephaestus cabin.

"Back here," the leader of the cabin called from where he was working with a sibling on the Nervegear.

"Please tell me that you have good news," Annabeth practically begged. It seemed like all she was getting anymore was bad news.

"I have good news and bad news," Leo said as he became very fidgety. He did not want to tell the scary blonde the bad news he had.

"Give me the good first," she said with a sigh.

"I got a helmet to work," he said quickly.

"What? Leo, that's amazing news," Annabeth started in excitement. They were one step closer of being able to get into the game and help Percy.

"The bad news is, I only got the one helmet to work, the others that I tried to make are completely shot," Leo finished.


	5. Chapter 5

I'm sorry that it as taken me so long to update. I hope that you guys enjoy. Thanks to HISHB for the motivation to update.

* * *

 **04/08**

"Leo, you have been working on the helmets for close to four months now," Annabeth practically shouted in frustration. She was becoming more anxious by the day. Percy had been stuck in the game for five months. So far, Leo had only been able to get one helmet working, and it was still risky since it was helmet that had never been used.

The few helmets, that had not been used, had become deactivated shortly after Akihiko Kayaba had announced that the game would keep the players inside. It had costed the camp a fortune for them to procure the, now, deactivated helmet. But they had gotten it.

Leo had been trying to recreate the Nervegear that would connect to the same game, without having that said game. It had been incredibly frustrating and tedious work for the son of Hephaestus

"Annabeth, I don't know if we can make more of these helmets," Leo said as he and his fellow cabin leaders sat around the ping pong table.

"There has to be a way!" she exclaimed.

"Annabeth, we may not be able to get in," Piper tried.

"Not all of us, we have one helmet that we could use to go in," Annabeth stated firmly. She was determined to get herself into the game, even if the others could not go with.

"Who would be the one to use it?" Thalia challenged from where she sat.

"I will. I will go in and help Percy," Annabeth said as she looked at everyone in the room. She gave them a look that challenged them to say something.

"Annabeth, I know you want to rescue him, but we can't act recklessly," Chiron stated as he looked at one of his favorite champers.

"I'll give you until the summer solstice. If the helmets are not figured out by then, I'm going in alone," Annabeth stated before walking out of the room.

* * *

"Here's to the Moonlit Black Cats!" a group of players cheered from inside a tavern. The group knocked their cups together. "I got another, here's to the guys that saved our lives. To Kirito and Percy!" The group cheered again.

Kirito appeared to be uncomfortable with all the attention. Percy couldn't blame him. Since the two of them had been dubbed beaters, a lot of people hadn't been very friendly towards them. But to see a group of players actually laughing and smiling around the two players was an awkward, yet welcomed sight.

"Cheers," Kirito stuttered.

The players then started to offer their thanks for the two males that had jumped in and saved the small guild. To be honest, the two had been hunting and accidently stumbled across the group.

"Thank you, thank you so much," the female of the group stated.

"Nah, it's cool," Kirito tried to dismiss. He was feeling uncomfortable around all the attention that he and Percy were getting.

"I can't tell you how scared I was, and it made me so happy when you two came to save us, I-" she started to become choked up.

"It wasn't a problem," Percy stated. He then started to talk with the players to his left.

"Um, Kirito sir, I hope I'm not out of line in asking this, but I was wondering what level the two of you were at?" the leader of the group asked.

Kirito glanced at Percy who was talking with the other guild members. "Oh, level 20," he lied.

"Really? You're at our level and still a solo a player?" he asked.

Kirito hadn't thought much of it, the title of solo player. But now that the other player brought it up, his mind started to think about. He a Percy worked together, but they hadn't reformed their party since the first boss fight. Percy told him that he wasn't going to abandon him. So far, the older teen had kept his word. The two had fought well together. In the eyes of almost all the players they came across, those players saw the two of them as solo players. They weren't in a party or in any guild, so they were technically solo players.

"You're an inspiration sir!" Keita exclaimed in awe.

"Keita, I'm not your superior," Kirito told him. "And being solo always means that I'm hunting enemies out in the boonies. It's not very efficient."

"Oh, right," Kieta stuttered as he straightened himself up. "In that case, I hate to spring this on you here, but if you want we would love to have you both in our guild. Our Mace wielder, Tetsuo, is the only one we can put out front right now," he explained. "Then we got Sachi over here. I was thinking of having her switch to sword-and-shield. That way she can fight on the front lines. The thing is, she says she not sure she can handle it. If you guys join us, maybe you could teach her a thing or two?"

"Oh, come on," Sachi said as she looked glum. "I'm not that useless." Sachi then moved away from her guild's leader. "Seriously, you can't put me up front and expect me to know what to do. I'd be terrified!"

"It's no big deal, just hide behind your shield!" Ducker interjected stated.

"Yeah right, ever since I can remember you've always been a scaredy-cat," Keita said. The rest of the guys of the guild laughed at the comment while Sachi pouted. "We always joke around like that. See, in real life, we all go to the same high school and are members of the computer club. But if you two are worried about fitting in with us, don't. As far as I'm concerned, you're already a part of our group. Right?"

The rest of the group made sounds of agreement.

"Well, I'm really flattered," Kirito started. "And thanks for the offer."

"We'll do it," Percy interjected. He didn't want Kirito to back out on this offer. This was their chance to make friends and be a part of a guild.

Kirito sputtered as he looked at his friend. Sure, he was going to accept, he just wanted time to talk with Percy first, to make sure that he was okay with this. Percy smiled as he looked around at his new group of friends.

* * *

 **4/11**

"I can't believe that we're in a guild," Percy stated as he sat inside Kirito's room. The two of them were going through their items list. It had been the first time in the last few days since joining the guild, the two friends had time to be alone and talk.

"I know," Kirito said he scanned his gear to see if he had any new equipment. "By the way, why did you agree to join the guild?"

"Because you need to work on your people skills," Percy laughed as he smiled at his friend.

"I do not! I have great people skills!" Kirito exclaimed in his defense.

"Sure, you do, and that is why you become an awkward mess around Sachi?" Percy teased. He may be dense when it came to his own feelings, but he was blind when the female always blushed while talking to his friend.

"I do not," Kirito defended as he looked around for a weapon. Kirito grabbed a pillow that was sitting on his bed and attempted to smack Percy with it.

Percy laughed as he dodged the pillow. "Your behavior states otherwise," he laughed as he raced to the door. Percy threw open the door and made his escape into the hallway. But Kirito was hot on his heels, brandishing his weapon of choice, the pillow.

"Get back here!" Kirito shouted as he chased down his best friend.

"Why would I do that?" Percy asked as he ran straight for the front door of the inn. He needed to find his guildmates. Finding them, he could take refuge with them. He knew that there was no way that Kirito was going to explain himself. Percy made it out the door and into the street. He paid little mind to the players that were staring at the two of them. Percy activated his searching skill as he ran. He had gotten really good to be able to activate skills as he moved. He immediately took off to where they were.

Kirito knew that he was over reacting to what Percy had said. But there was something inside of his that just started laughing and now he couldn't stop. He had a smile on his face as he chased Percy through Taft. At the moment, he was having a blast in the first time in months as he chased Percy through the streets.

He was brought up short when Percy stopped, dead in his tracks and sidestepped to reveal the rest of their guild.

"Kirito?" Sachi asked curiously.

"Um, hey," Kirito said as he attempted to hide the pillow behind his back. Kirito blushed profusely, and Percy did not help any as he fell onto the ground laughing.

"What happened?" Tetsuo asked curiously as his gaze switched between Kirito and Percy.

"I'm *laugh* I'm gonna let Kirito explain *laugh*," Percy said as he continued to laugh.

"Nothing," Kirito said as he stored the pillow in his inventory. He vowed that he would get his vengeance on Percy one day.

"Well we were getting ready to have lunch; you guys want to join?" Kieta asked hopefully that the new members would join.

"Sure," Percy said as he reigned in his laughs.

* * *

 **5/09**

The next month was spent hanging out, laughing, and hunting monsters. Percy couldn't remember a time, inside the game, where he felt like himself. He fought with a group of strangers that had become really close with. Percy laid back on the grass thinking as he and his friends ate lunch after they had finished up hunting in the field.

Percy had spent some time trying to help Sachi learn, but it seemed that the girl was too timid. She hid behind her shield too much. Not to mention a certain beater kept jumping to her rescue. Percy let out a sigh, at this rate, the rest of the group would leave her behind, level wise. She was leveling up slower than the rest of her friends.

All in all, it was great getting to hang out with the Moonlit Black Cats. Both he and Kirito had been smiling more as they interacted with their guildmates. The group seemed to make everyone around them laugh and smile. Percy never regretted the decision to join them.

"The assault team made it through to floor 28. That's amazing!" Kieta said as he read the newspaper in front of him. "Hey, Kirito, what the heck does the assault team have that we don't?"

"Well access to information. With that they can find out the easiest ways to get EXP, and they don't share that info," Kirito explained as he sat up.

"Yea, you're probably right," Keita sighed. "But I think that really sets them apart is willpower."

"What do you mean?" Kirito asked.

Kieta sat up and then answered. "I guess what I mean is they have the will to stick up for their friends or any player for that matter. Truth is, I like to think that we have that same kind of drive. Even though we still need their protection. That said, our first priority is looking out for each other. But someday, if we get strong enough, we'll join the elites in the assault team."

"I see," Kirito stated as he took in what Kieta had just said. "That's a good goal."

"I don't know, I guess," Kieta thought to himself.

Ducker then dropped down to pester Kieta. "Hey, leader? Give me some love!" He then put Kieta into a headlock.

"So, you really think we can be as strong as the Holy Dragon Alliance or the Knights of the Blood Oath?" Tetsuo asked with a smile on his face.

"Yea I do! Nothing wrong with setting our sights high. But was have to be level 30 first!" Kieta said as he defended his words.

"It's amazing," Percy said as he dropped down beside Kirito. He had been up talking with the rest of the group and laying down.

"I like the way Kieta thinks. If the Black Cats can level up fast enough, and get to the front lines, his ideals could change the elitist attitude of the assault team," Kirito told Percy.

"I guess we'll have to make sure we all get there someday," Percy said as a grin spread across his face.

* * *

That night as they were back at the inn, Kieta called a meeting in his room. "I have announcement to make. After our latest hunts in the field we have 200,000 Col!"

Everyone in the room was excited. This would mean they were one step closer to a house. Percy had been talking to Sasamaru about what they had been saving up for. He had told him that it was their goal to buy a house in the game.

"Buying a house of our own doesn't seem like such a pipe dream anymore," Tetsuo said happily.

"I know," Sasamaru said as he raised his hand, "we should upgrade Sachi's equipment." He wanted the house, but he wanted his friends safe too.

"Good idea," Kieta said.

"I'm fine with what I have," Sachi said as she shook her head no.

"Oh, come on," Sasamaur stated. "You know, it's not fair to make Kirito out in front forever. Percy too for that matter."

"I'm sorry," Sachi apologized.

"Don't worry about me, I'm cool with it," Kirito said.

Percy had a feeling that Kirito would jump in front of Sachi to help her no matter what position she was.

"Thanks Kirito," Kieta said. "Sachi, I know switching jobs isn't easy, but seriously, you're almost there. You can do it, I know it."

* * *

 **5/16 Kirito**

That night, Kirito felt restless. He left his hotel room and walked about the town of Taft. Kirito somehow managed to make his way to the edge of town and kept walking. Kirito wasn't worried about monsters that could attack him. He was strong enough to clear anything on this floor by himself. As he was walking, Kirito found himself at the Wolf Plains, a good place to do leveling up for stronger players.

Kirito spotted a group of players who were doing just that. As he watched the players, he spotted one player that he recognized. Klein was there, and what appeared to be a part of a guild.

Klein let out a sigh after destroying the monster before noticing Kirito at the top of the hill. He seemed to have felt someone staring at him to cause him to look up. "What's up Kirito?" Klein asked as he recognized the player. "The trash mobs are all yours guys." He then started climbing the hill to his friend. "Man, it's been awhile since I seen you. What? You doin' some late night leveling or something?" he asked. Klein then seemed to take notice of the icon next to Kirito. "What's with that icon? Did you join a guild?"

"Yea, I guess you could say that," Kirito answered.

"Hey, where's Percy?" Klein asked as he noticed a lack of another black-haired teen.

"He's fine, he's back with the rest of the guild," Kirito said.

Klein's friends called up saying that the area was all cleared.

"See ya," Kirito said as he started walking down the hill.

"Oh, come on, is it still bugging you?" Klein asked himself.

* * *

 **Percy**

"Percy?" Keita shouted as he pounded on Percy's door.

Percy slowly got out of bed. He was amazed how easy it was for him to wake up in the game. In real life, someone would have had to pound on his door for five minutes to get him out of bed. He quickly answered the door.

"Have you seen Sachi?" Keita asked as soon as the door was opened wide enough.

"No, last time I saw her was at dinner," Percy answered. Percy quickly made his way to Kirito's room and barged in. He would apologize later. "Kirito-" the words died in his throat as he discovered his best friend in the game gone. "Message Kirito, I'll wake up the others and we'll start looking."

Keita nodded his head as he sent a message to Kirito.

Percy was back a minute later with the rest of the guild, bleary-eyed and tired.

"We need to check the dungeon to see if she got trapped there," Keita said as he led the rest of the group out of the hotel.

They quickly made their way to the dungeon. Percy mentally cursed himself. 'I pushed her too hard. Now she's probably trying to prove herself and she's going to get herself killed.' The day before Percy had pulled Sachi aside and talked with her. He had told her that she needed to try and fight on her own and not have Kirito jump in front of her. He wanted Sachi to get stronger so that way she could protect herself. But he didn't want her to get herself killed.

The group had made it to the dungeon when Kirito had sent them a message saying that he found Sachi in town. Percy and the rest of the guys let out a sigh of relief as they headed back towards the hotel they were staying at.

"Does it say where she was?" Ducker asked as the group tromped back to their rooms.

"No, it just says that he found and she's safe," Keita said as he reread the message.

Letting out a sigh, Percy stated, "I'm going back to bed. Let me know if something happens."

"Good night," the rest of the guild said as they walked back to their own rooms.

* * *

 **6/12**

"Today's the day!" Keita said excitedly as the guild ate breakfast together.

"We're really going to do this?" Ducker asked excitedly as he paused in eating.

"Yes, Percy and I are going to head to the Town of Beginnings after everyone is finished," Keita stated. He was so excited to be able to be buying a house for himself and his friends. "That is, if you still want to come?"

"Sure, I don't mind," Percy said as he finished up eating.

"All right, let's finish up and head to the teleportation gate," Sasamaru stated excitedly. Everyone around the table cheered and finished eating.

The guild quickly left the tavern and headed to the teleportation gate to see the two players off.

"Okay, we're heading out," Keita waved. "Teleport, Town of Beginnings." The two players disappeared through the gate.

"I'm excited that we get to do this," Percy said as he and Keita started walking around the town.

"I know, I never thought that I would be this excited in buying a home," Keita said with a smile as the two walked through the streets.

"I never asked, but where exactly are we going?" Percy asked as he looked around at the town. It wasn't as crowded as it used to be. Now that floors were being cleared, many people were spreading out over the different floors and making lives for themselves here.

"This way," Keita said as he led the way to a shop. "The shop we're going to has titles and things like that, that people can buy."

"Welcome!" a female NPC greeted both boys as they walked into her shop. "What can I help you with?"

"Well we were coming to buy a house," Keita said happily as he walked up to the NPC with short brown hair with green eyes.

"Of course," she said happily. "We have several nice houses on many different floors. Was there a certain floor or house you were looking for?"

"Well there was one on floor 11 near the town of Taft," Keita said. He was hoping the house was still for sale and hadn't been sold yet.

"Oh, I see," she said the paper in front of her glowed and then revealed the information about the house the guild was hoping to buy. "It is still for sale. The price is 200,000 Col."

"Sweet," Percy said. They had just enough money to buy the house. Percy also had some money he still had saved up from when he and Kirito were solo. But with this little bit of money, he hoped to buy a few things for the guild house that everyone would enjoy.

"We'll take it," Keita said happily as he handed over the amount of Col needed to purchase the house.

The female NPC took the money and then handed Percy the keys. "I hope you enjoy your new home. If there is anything else you need, please come back!" she said happily.

"Come on, let's go show everyone!" Percy said happily as he jingled the keys.

Keita laughed as he followed the teen back to the teleportation gate. "I don't know who's more excited, you or me?"

"Dude, I haven't felt like I have a family since I got here. Sure, Kirito is my best friend as we're running around. But since joining up with you guys, it seems like I have a family in here now," Percy laughed as he walked to the teleportation gate. Kirito was like a younger brother to him. Since joining the guild Kirito had opened up and become a better person.

As the duo arrived in Taft, they looked around, hoping to see their friends.

"You see them?" Keita asked as he continued to scan the area.

"No, but they're probably back at the inn waiting for us," Percy smiled as he started walking to where they had been staying.

"Probably," Keita muttered. The two made it back to the hotel with no issues and knocked on their guildmates' doors. After they received no answer from any of their guildmates, both sat in the main area to wait. "They probably went hunting," Keita tried to laugh. "They probably wanted to earn some extra Col."

The duo waited for several hours for the rest of their guildmates to come back. During that time, Percy and Keita checked out of the hotel and started walking around Taft to kill time. It was nearing sundown when they spotted Kirito slowly walking towards them. Keita was so excited to see someone from their guild that he took off running to meet him.

Percy was about to follow when he realized two things. One, no one else was with him. Kirito was walking alone towards him. Two, Kirito looked defeated. Percy knew that look. It was the same look he had when he appeared at camp after Charles had been killed on the boat with Kronos. The rest of the guild was dead, and Kirito alone survived.

"Hey, Kirito!" Keita said happily as he approached the younger teen. "Kirito, where is everyone else?" Keita asked as he sounded winded from running.

"We… I…they didn't make it," Kirito whispered.

"What?" Keita asked in disbelief as he staggered away from Kirito.

"We went hunting on a higher floor. It was a trap and they didn't make it out," Kirito said as he couldn't force himself to look Keita in the eyes.

"How did you make it out?" Keita asked in shock.

"I'm level 48," Kirito said shamefully.

"You're level 48?" Keita said as he staggered even farther away. "And you, what level are you?"

"47," Percy whispered.

"You're both beaters!" he said in realization. The black coats they both wore and how strong they were, it all made sense now. "You had no right to be with us!"

Both Percy and Kirito were ashamed of lying to the group. Kirito looked up first to see Keita get up on the ledge that over looked the clouds that drifted by with no bottom. Kirito gasped, gaining Percy's attention. Both surged forwards in an attempt to stop Keita from falling to his death. They were too late as they reached the railing to see Keita's body burst into thousands of little lights.

* * *

 **12/24**

"I hear someone has been taking risks with their level raising," Argo said in a sing song tone.

"Got any new info for me or what?" Kirito asked in a monotone voice.

"Nothing worth charging you money for," she stated.

"You give info brokers a bad name," Kirito said dryly.

"Hey, this wasn't in the beta test, it's a first-time event," she defended herself. "How am I supposed to know what happens. All I know is that tonight on Christmas Eve, the Event Boss will appear. He's called Nicholas the Renegade, and he's going to show up under a fir tree somewhere. The major guilds are searching everywhere for the tree as we speak."

Kirito soaked in the information. He then stood to leave the snowy plaza.

"You wouldn't know where it is would you?" Argo asked.

"Maybe?" Kirito challenged as he walked away.

"Are you thinking of going solo on this one?" she asked as she watched him walk away.

Kirito walked back to the hotel he had been staying in.

"You get the information you needed?" Percy asked as he leaned up against the doorframe outside Kirito's room.

"If I did?" Kirito challenged.

"Kirito, please, don't do this," Percy said as he blocked the door.

"Move," Kirito growled.

"No, you're being reckless. I supported as you grieved and did some stupid things. I fought beside you as you took down every monster and beast you came across to raise your level higher. But this, this has to be your dumbest idea ever! Going after Nicholas the Renegade isn't going to bring them back and neither is getting yourself killed!" Percy shouted at his best friend. For the last six months, Percy watched as his best friend fell apart. He was a shell of his former self and he was going to get himself killed soon because of it.

"He's supposed to drop a rare item that will let you revive a player!" Kirito shouted.

"That's just a rumor!" Percy continued to shout.

Kirito turned around and left the hotel. Kirito stopped once on the way to the forest to equip himself in better gear. Kirito made it to floor 35 the Forrest Maze. Kirito was kind of surprised that he hadn't seen Percy since the fight. But then again, Percy's sneak was crazy high. Kirito followed his map to the location that Nicholas was supposed to appear.

He was closing in on the location when players appeared on his right.

"Wassup?" Klein asked as he lead his guild into the area.

"You followed me?" Kirito asked simply.

"Of, course," Klein stated. "You're after the revival item, aren't ya?"

"Yeah," Kirito said as he turned to face Klein.

"Don't be risking your life over some rumor that might be bogus," Klein told him. "Man, you can't be messing around in this death game."

"It's what I told him," Percy stated as he came out of hiding.

Klein and his guildmates jumped in fright. "Man don't do that!" Klein yelled. "As I was saying, once you HP hits zero that's it. In the real world your brain gets fried."

"Shut up," Kirito told them all.

Klein was taken back at what Kirito told him. "I'm trying to get you to stop with your stupid behavior. Come on, join up with us. Both of you can! Whoever gets it to drop the revival item keeps it, no hard feelings. Hey, that's fair isn't?"

"But then, there'd be no point. I have to do this alone," Kirito stated as he grabbed his weapon.

Klein reached out his arm to keep his guildmates from attacking. He then spoke up saying, "Think about what you're doing Kirito! It's suicide and I can't let you die like that! Come on!"

"Guess you were being followed too, huh Klein," Kirito stated as Klein's guild and Percy made their way to Kirito to defend against the new group that appeared in the forest.

"It sure looks that way," Klein agreed.

"It's the Holy Dragon Alliance," Percy muttered as he drew his sword.

"They'll do anything for a rare item, no matter how shady," Klein stated.

"What do we do?" one of his guildmates asked.

"Screw these guys," Klein stated as he pulled out his katana. "Get out of here Kirito!"

"No way," Kirito said as he prepared himself to fight.

"Leave them to us," Percy said he locked eyes with an opponent.

"We can hold them off," Klein agreed. Though he would have much rather seen Percy go with Kirito, he was still glad for the help in holding off the Holy Dragon Alliance.

The small guild and Percy fought to protect the portal that would lead to Nicholas the Renegade. Percy slashed and blocked each of his opponents that got to close. He wasn't going to let these greedy bastards get through. Kirito could defeat Nicholas, he had no doubt, he just needed time. They fought for what seemed like forever before the Hold Dragon Alliance decided it wasn't worth the trouble and fell back.

"That was rough," Klein said from where he sat in the snow beside Percy.

"You aren't kidding," Percy said as he looked around the clearing. He was wondering when Kirito would be back. He was about to say something to Klein when the portal started to shimmer, and Kirito appeared.

"Kirito! Hey!" Klein said happily.

"There," Kirito said as he tossed the item to Klein. "That's the revival item."

Klein caught the small orb and checked the item tag. He then read the description about what it could do.

"If someone dies in front of you someday, make sure you use it," Kirito stated sullenly. His plan to revive Sachi had failed.

Klein scrambled to his feet and grabbed a hold of Kirito's jacket. "Kirito, listen. Stay alive, you hear. I don't care how you do it. Just stay alive until the end."

Percy hauled himself to his feet. He had to make sure that Kirito didn't do anything else reckless and dumb for the night.

"Percy," Klein stated. "Please, watch out for him. But also take care of yourself. I want both of you to make it to the end."

"I promise. We'll both be there at the end," Percy said as he shook Klein's hand before following after Kirito.

Percy watched as Kirito went into his room. Percy then made it to his room. Percy laid down on his bed and stared at the ceiling. He was upset that the revival item wouldn't bring back Sachi. Kirito needed that closure. He needed to hear from her that it wasn't his fault. Percy wanted to scream his frustrations. This was their one chance at closure and it had blown up in their faces.

Percy equipped himself in his winter cloak and headed for the door. He was going hunting to blow off some steam. Percy flung open his door and startled Kirito who was about to knock.

"I'm sorry," Kirito said in defeat as he lowered his hand.

"For what?" Percy asked with quirked eyebrow.

"I've been a jerk and an idiot. I put us both in danger and yet you never left. I'm sorry," he apologized again.

"I don't blame you," Percy told him.

"No, but I blamed myself for Sachi and the others' deaths. If we had told them our levels," Kirito said as he attempted not to cry.

"They may or may not be here. We don't know. But we have to keep on moving forwards. We mourn their loss," Percy said as he took a breath to force back his own emotions, "but then we go on and fight for them so that way their deaths mean something. If we die as well, then their deaths mean nothing."

"So, we fight," Kirito said as he took a deep breath.

"We fight, and we try to get as many people out as we can," Percy told him.


	6. Chapter 6

**I'm so sorry that it took so long. My computer crapped out on me almost 4 months ago. I was just able to get a new one and get my stories and chapters off of my old computer. *sigh***

 **Thank you so much and so many apologies to HISHB. You are amazing at keeping me on task. And again, a thousand apologies for making you wait.**

* * *

2/23 Percy and Kirito

"Way to go," Percy said happily as Kirito dispatched the last monster. Percy was very pleased with Kirito's recovery since Christmas. The younger teen hadn't bounced back completely, but he was getting there. Kirito would at least smile sometimes while the two of them were hunting.

"I think we cleared this part of the forest," Kirito stated as he looked around for more enemies. The duo had been trying to track down a PK guild. So far, all they had come across was monsters.

Percy opened his mouth to say something when he heard what sounded like a player cry out. "Did you hear that?" Percy asked as he looked around.

"Hear what?" Kirito asked as he walked closer to his best friend.

"I thought I heard something," Percy muttered as he activated his searching skill to see if there were any enemies in the area. Sure enough, he spotted three converging on a spot. Percy assumed that it had to be a player. He quickly took off running towards the area. Percy didn't bother to see if Kirito was following him, he simply ran to the monsters.

The duo spotted three ape looking creatures barring down a player. From the sound of it, the player, a female had just lost a friend. Percy attacked the closest one to him, while Kirito moved past him and easily killed the next two before they were able to hurt the young player.

She looked at both of them and started crying. Percy felt horrible, he had been unable to get here in time to save a player from dying. "Pina," she stated as tears ran down her cheeks. "Don't leave me all alone here. Pina!"

Kirito put away his sword and slowly approached the girl crying on the ground. "What's that feather?"

"It's Pina," she said as she continued to cry over the feather. "My best friend."

"You're one of those beast tamers, aren't you?" Kirito asked.

"Beast tamer?" Percy mouthed silently to Kirito.

Kirito shot him a look that told him he would explain later. "I'm sorry," Kirito apologized to the girl. "If we got here sooner, we could have saved your friend."

"No, it's all my fault. I was stupid to think I could make it through the forest on my own," she said. The girl then turned around and looked at the two players. "Thank you for saving me. You did what you could."

"That feather," Kirito said as he knelt down on the ground, "check and see if it has an item name attacked to it."

Percy stayed standing as he scanned the forest for any more monsters. He had no idea what a beast tamer was, and he was not about to ask as Kirito was being kind to another player. This younger player was getting Kirito to behave more like his former self.

She did as Kirito encouraged. As she read that it said Pina's Heart, she started to cry again over the feather in her hands.

"Hey, don't cry. That means Pina's heart is still here. There's a chance you could revive it," Kirito said encouragingly.

This information got the young girl to look up, hope filling her features. "Really?" Silica, the young girl, asked.

Kirito offered her a small smile and a head nod. "On the south side of floor 47, there's a field dungeon called the Hill of Memories. I heard somewhere that the flower growing at the top can revive fallen familiars," he explained.

Silica became very hopeful at what Kirito was telling her. She then seemed to sadden at a thought. "Floor 47, huh?"

"I'd offer that the two of us," Kirito said as he pointed to himself and Percy that was still standing behind them, "go get it for you. All you'd have to do is pay for our trip. The thing is, the flower won't bloom unless the familiars' master is there."

"Thank you so much, both of you. Thank you for telling me about it," she said happily. "If I work hard to raise my level, then someday I could-"

Kirito then interrupted Silica, saying, "Sure, but the time limit is three days to revive it."

"No way," she said sadly. "It's all my fault. I'm so sorry Pina."

"It's okay, we have three days," Percy stated from where he was standing. He was tired of seeing this small girl go through a roller coaster of different emotions.

Kirito looked up from where he was still kneeling on the ground. Sighing, he stood up and faced Silica. "Take this equipment, it should boost five or six levels." He then looked over to Percy and stated, "And if we tag a long, I'm sure everything will work out."

"Why would you do all this?" she asked as she looked between the two male players.

Kirito seemed to become slightly embarrassed. "I'll tell you only if you promise not to laugh, okay?"

Silica seemed to steel herself in preparation for the information Kirito was about to tell her. "I promise I won't," she stated firmly.

Kirito put his hand over his face so that way he couldn't see his best friend or the young female. "Alright, it's because you look like my little sister."

Percy tried his hardest not to laugh. The guy that had been emotionless for a good part of last year, was getting sentimental because a player reminded him of his younger sister in IRL. Percy was glad that Kirito was going to help the player and he was showing emotion, but Kirito sounded so cheesy at the moment. He couldn't help but laugh.

"Laugh it up," Kirito said as he shot his best friend a look.

At this Silica started to giggle as well. "I'm sorry," she apologized. She took a deep breath to get her giggles under control. She then opened her menu and started to transfer her Col stating, "I know that this isn't enough Col to pay you back but-"

"No, it's cool," Percy interjected as he stopped laughing.

"It works with why we're here," Kirito stated. "We'll be helping each other out."

"Okay then, my name is Silica," she introduced herself.

"My name is Kirito, and that's Percy," he stated as he shook the young girl's hand.

"I guess we'll be working together for a little while," Percy stated happily. "Now, let's get out of this forest."

The other two players happily nodded their heads in agreement. Percy started to follow the path out of the forest. As they walked, no monsters appeared, having already been cleared out by Kirito and Percy. They were able to make to Mishe with no problems or attacks. Percy had hoped for an attack. Not to be mean, but so that way he could see how Silica would react to danger.

As they were walking, two players shouted and came running up to the group. "Hey look, it's Silica," one boy stated excitedly.

"It took you a long time to get back, we were getting pretty worried," the second boy stated, who had close cropped blonde hair.

"You want to team up with us?" the first asked, who had longer brown hair. "We'll take you wherever you want to go."

"That's really nice of you to offer," she said as she started to feel uncomfortable. She then linked her arms through Percy and Kirito's arms, making it look like they were escorting her to wherever she wanted to go. "But I already agreed to be in a party with these two."

The other two boys glared at the two black haired teens. They both seemed to growl in irritation at Percy and Kirito.

"Kay, later, bye," she said nervously. She then led both Kirito and Percy away, her arms wrapped around theirs. "I didn't mean to put you guys on the spot like that."

"Didn't know you had fans," Kirito stated with a smile.

"You must be popular," Percy said as he glanced back at the two players. Feeling spiteful, Percy stuck his tongue out at the two that were left behind. He then turned around and listened to Silica explain that no one would take her serious and how she was viewed as a mascot. She then became sad again as she talked about how she thought the title of Dragon Tamer went to her head. Percy smiled as Kirito was able to then cheer the younger player up.

The three continued to walk around the town. They didn't seem to have a destination in mind. Until Silica suggested an Inn that had cheesecake. Both boys agreed, Percy a tad bit more enthusiastically than Kirito. The small group made their way to the inn before encountering another group of players.

"Well, if it isn't Silica?" female taunted as she closed in on the group. "Wow, you made it out of the forest alive. Good for you girl."

"Something wrong?" Kirito asked as Percy glared at the new group.

"Oh, no, nothing," Silica stated sadly.

"Hang on," the female continued to taunt, "what happened to your little friend the lizard? Did it run away?"

"Pina died saving me," she answered sadly. Silica then perked up and stated, "But, I'm going to get Pina back!"

"Really? I guess you'll be heading to the Hill of Memories. But, I wonder if you'll be able to clear it at your level?" the female taunted.

"Of course, she will. It's not that difficult a level," Kirito interjected.

"Oh god, this girl's seduced a couple more players. No, it's not that difficult, but you two don't look that strong to me," she sneered.

"Come on," Kirito stated as he ushered Silica away from the red head and to the inn.

Percy met the red head's glare with his own as he walked past her. Once they were away from her, Percy stated, "I'll be back. I want to check something out."

Kirito nodded his head in understanding as he walked Silica into the inn.

Percy doubled back to where they had met the red head. Percy glanced around trying to figure out where she could have gone.

"You looking for someone handsome?" came the same female's voice from a few minutes ago.

"Looking for you," Percy stated with a smirk.

"Well you found me. I'm Rosalia by the way," Rosalia introduced.

"Percy," he stated in return.

"So, what can I do for you?" Rosalia asked as she crossed her arms under her chest in attempt to push it upwards.

"Well I was wondering what you were doing hanging out with those losers," Percy stated. He knew that he was playing a dangerous game. A game that could go either way. But, if their information was correct, which he assumed that it was, they would be able to put Titan's Hand away for good.

"I could say the same thing," Rosalia smirked.

"I'm just with them for now. The kid's going to lead me to a rare item that will fetch a nice sum," he stated with smirk.

"You part of a mercenary guild?" Rosalia questioned.

"You could say that I'm out for myself," Percy stated with a smirk.

"Well, I know a wonderful guild that works just like that," she stated as she leaned in to give Percy a good view of her chest. "We could use someone like you."

Percy kept his eyes locked on Rosalia's face as he ignored her attempts. "I'll think about it and get back to you in the morning."

"Good," she all but purred. "I'll meet you on the floor that holds the Hill of Memories. Just break away from your party."

"I'll see you there then," Percy stated as he turned away from Rosalia and head back to the inn.

Percy checked his notifications and found a message from Kirito letting him know which room they were in. As he arrived at their shared room, Percy let out a sigh.

"How'd it go?" Kirito asked as he momentarily looked up from his user screen. He appeared to be looking through his armor.

"I found her. I'm sure that she is the one we were sent after," Percy stated as he flopped down on his bed across from Kirito.

"That's good, we should go talk with Silica and go over tomorrow," Kirito said as he finished looking over his inventory.

"Okay," Percy stated with a sigh as he got back up. The two made their way to the young girl's room.

* * *

Kirito knocked on the door before stating, "Silica, you still awake?"

"K-Kirito?" Silica stated from the other side of the door.

"I forgot to tell you some stuff about floor 47, but it can wait until tomorrow," Kirito stated.

"No, now is fine," Silica answered.

The two heard Silica get up and shuffle around in her room before finally answering the door. Silica opened the door and ushered the two inside with a blush coating her cheeks. Kirito moved father into the room and moved the table to set up the Mirage Sphere of the floor. Percy leaned against the foot of the bed to listen.

"What does that do?" Silica asked intrigued by the new device.

"It's called a Mirage Sphere," Kirito explained as he turned it on.

Silica let out a laugh before stating, "It's so pretty."

"This is the town area of floor 47," he pointed. Kirito then moved the screen and pointed out the Hill of Memories. He started to explain his plan before he noticed Percy had gone still, his eye focused on the door. Kirito narrowed his eyes as he glared at the door, focusing on what lay on the other side.

"Stay with Silica," Percy hissed as he threw open the door and bolted after the player that had been eavesdropping.

"Kirito?" Silica asked, her voice giving way to how frighten she was, as the two made their way to the open doorway. "What was it?"

"An eavesdropper," Kirito stated as he stared in the direction his best friend had gone.

"B-but they can't. I mean you can't hear through a door unless you knock first,"

"But if your listening skill is high enough, you can," Kirito stated as he shut the door to the room. "It takes practice, and not that many players have it."

"Why would they want to listen to us?" Silica asked the older player.

Kirito did not answer as he looked at the door. He was pretty sure he knew who had been on the other side of the door. But, he would have to wait until Percy returned with the player to be positive.

* * *

Percy

Percy bolted down the stairs and out of the inn as he chased down the player. He was positive that the player would lead him back to Titan's Hand. As he chased the player through the streets, he became aware of players taking notice of him. 'An ambush,' Percy mussed to himself.

Percy forced himself to slow down and appear to lose the mysterious player. He was nearing the edge of the safe zone and he didn't want to show off his skills just yet. He needed Titan's Hand to think he was on their side and that he was a normal player. Percy continued to slow his pace until he completely lost the other player. He then made his way back to the inn. He knew that he was going to catch the player tomorrow.

"You catch 'em?" Kirito asked as Percy slipped back inside their room.

"No, they were leading me out of the safe zone. Probably were going to try and kill me. So, I let them go for now. I figured we would find them tomorrow when we round everyone up," Percy stated. "I'm meeting Rosalia tomorrow."

"You think that it was part of Titan's Hand?" Kirito asked as he sat up on his bed.

"I'm pretty sure that it was. We're going after a rare item and they want them. My best guess, Rosalia's going to test my allegiance tomorrow," Percy stated as he sunk down to his bed.

"Okay, I'm guessing that you have a plan for tomorrow," Kirito stated as he turned the lamp off.

"Yea," Percy mumbled into the dark.

* * *

The next morning as the two swordsmen were getting ready, they both had resolve. By the end of the day, they were going to complete their mission.

"I'll meet you there," Percy stated as he left the room.

Kirito nodded his head in agreement as he went to go find Silica. Kirito was about to knock on the door when the younger player burst through the day.

"Kirito!" she exclaimed as she had almost barreled into the boy.

"Hey Silica, you ready?" he asked with a smile on his face.

"Yes," Silica stated, determination laced her voice. The pair started to make their way out of the inn when Silica asked, "Where is Percy?"

"He had something to do. He said that he would meet us on the Hill of Memories," Kirito explained.

"Alright, let's go get Pina back," Silica stated excitedly.

Percy arrived at floor 47 and set about tracking down Rosalia. He activated his skill and set off to find the female player.

"You looking for someone handsome?" Percy heard from Rosalia

"I just found her," Percy stated as he turned around to face Rosalia.

"Are they coming?" the female asked.

"Yes, they shouldn't be far behind me from entering this level," Percy stated.

"Perfect, then all we have to do is wait," she stated as she led Percy to the group of her guildmates.

"Who's the new guy?" a scruffy looking player demanded.

"This is Percy, he's going to help us get a rare item," Rosalia purred as she draped herself over Percy's shoulder.

Percy smirked at the group before him. If he was going to play the bad character, he might as well go all out.

"He's the one that chased after me yester!" another player cried out.

"Oh, so you are the half wit that can't listen in on someone properly," Percy sneered.

"Why you!" the same player cried as he went to attack.

"Now now boys," Rosalia said calmly as she stayed, pressed up against Percy, "we will have plenty of time for fighting in a little bit when the other two players show up with our new rare item."

"Down boy," Percy smirked.

The other player glared daggers at Percy as he slunk off to wait for their prey.

"You sure know how to rile someone up," Rosalia whispered to Percy.

"It's a specialty of mine," he said as he looked over at Rosalia.

"So, what path are going to take?" Rosalia asked as she moved from her current spot.

"The main road," Percy stated. "It's the quickest way in and out. He's not going to want to put Silica in any more danger than he has too."

"Perfect, then I know right where we need to hide," Rosalia state as she led the way to a small grove of trees. "We'll wait here until they come back."

All the players around her nodded in understanding before hiding amongst the trees.

"They're coming," Percy whispered.

It wasn't long until they could see the pair of players returning from the Hill of Memories.

"Whoever's hiding out there, come out, now," Kirito called out.

Rosalia let a small smile appear on her face as she stepped out of her hiding spot.

"Rosalia," they all heard the young player squeak out.

"If you saw through my hiding skills so easy, your detection skill must be really high swordsman," she stated in fake kindness. "Ooh, it looks like you were successful in getting the Pneuma Flower. Congratulations." It was then that her whole demeanor changed, and she demanded, "Now, hand it over before you get hurt."

"What are you talking about?" Silica asked.

"What she means is, we want the flower," Percy stated as he stepped out of his hiding place.

"Percy?!" Silica stated in shock.

Kirito appeared to narrow his eyes at his friend.

"No one's handing anything over," Kirito stated as he glared at his friend. "Not to you or the orange guild or should I say Titan's Hand. You're their leader, right?"

"Nice," Rosalia stated with a smile.

"But, Rosalia's cursor is green," Silica stated.

"It's an easy trick. The green members find their victims. Then they lure them straight to the orange players for the ambush," Kirito explained. "That was one of your pals eavesdropping on us last night, wasn't it?"

"Then the reason you were in that party," Silica stated in fear as the realization clicked in her mind.

"How preceptive, I was observing their strength and watch them earn all that beautiful money," Rosalia stated hungerly. "You were who I was excited about, and I was so sad when you left the party. But then you told me you were getting a rare item."

"Quit playing with your food Rosalia," Percy cut in.

"Fine, I guess it's time to get this over with," Rosalia stated as she snapped her fingers. As she snapped, her guildmates stepped out of their hiding places, weapons drawn.

"Kirito, we should get out of here," Silica stated in fear.

"It's okay, you'll be safe if you stay here. Keep the crystal handy until I say so," Kirito said in reassurance.

"Okay," Silica stated.

He then stepped forward to meet the orange players.

"Kirito!" Silica shouted in fear.

"Kirito?" an orange player questioned.

"Dressed in black, one-handed, no-shield. Holy crap, it's the black swordsman," another stated. "Rosalia, that guy, he's the beater that plays solo on the front lines. He's with the assault team."

"Why would someone from the assault team all the way down here?" Rosalia changed smugly. 'He's not the beater, he's just a wannabe look-a-like,' she thought to herself. "Go on, take him out! And, take everything he owns!" she ordered.

The orange members attacked Kirito. Each of them activating their sword skill, hoping to kill him. After each of them had attacked the swordsman in black a few times, they took a step back to assess the damage they had dealt. But it seemed like nothing had happened.

Rosalia quickly lost her cool at the sight of Kirito not being killed. "What the hell you idiots?! Kill him already!"

"400 in 10 seconds, give or take," Kirito stated plainly, "that's about the total damage the seven of you can inflict on me. I'm level 78. I got 14,500 HP. My battle-healing skill auto-regenerates 600 points every 10 seconds. We can stand here all day and you wouldn't get anywhere."

"That's not possible," one of the seven orange players stated.

"Wanna bet!" Kirito challenged. "If your numbers are high enough, you're invincible. MMO's that use leveling systems are unfair that way. My client spent his entire fortune on this warp crystal, and he'll get his money's worth."

"Client?" Rosalia shouted in confusion.

It was then that Percy made a move. He drew his sword and held it to Rosalia's throat. "Remember back 10 days ago, back to when you attacked a guild called the Silver Flags. Your friends killed everyone but the leader. He survived but four didn't. He then went back and forth from the warp-point to the front lines and begged for someone to avenge his dead party members."

"What?" Rosalia demanded as she stared in shock at Percy's sword.

"So fortunately for you, he didn't want you all dead. He wants you all to go to prison. That crystal has been set with the coordinates of the prison. And all of you are going to be sent there," Percy said, the venom filled his words.

"I'm green! If you hurt me you'll go orange," Rosalia challenged as she jumped back and away from Percy's sword.

Kirito moved quickly, almost like a blur as he rushed Rosalia. He pulled his sword on her and held it to her neck. Percy turned to glare at the red head.

"I'm a solo player, got it. I don't care if I have to play as orange for a couple of days," Kirito stated, the hatred for the woman, clear in his voice.

Rosalia lost all fight after that. She let her spear drop. It was then too easy for the two beaters to round up the 8 players of Titan's Hand and send them to the prison.

Once their job was done, the small group quietly made their way to the warp-point to head back to the inn. Silica kept sneaking glances at both boys that she was with. She could see the subtle difference in them from before. They walked as if they knew she was going to judge and hate them. But, Silica couldn't bring herself to hate either of them. Sure, she had been worried when Percy had shown up with Rosalia. But, he had quickly shown that he was playing the vile red head. They made it back to the inn and gathered in Silica's room.

"We're really sorry Silica," Kirito started as he sat beside Silica on the bed. "This whole time we were using you as bait to catch them."

"We thought that you might be scared if we told you the truth about why we were down here," Percy said as well as he pulled the chair from the table and sat on it in front of Silica.

"I could never be scared of you two, because both of you are good people," Silica said with a smile to both boys. "Do you both really have to go?"

"Yeah, we've been away from the front lines for fives days now," Kirito answered. "We should be getting back."

"I think it's cool that you guys are with the assault team. I could try for a hundred years and never make it," Silica stated.

"A person's strength in this game is just an illusion. There are a lot of other things that are important. You know what would be cool, if one day we could meet up in the real world," Kirito told her.

Silica smiled softly, "Okay, we will."

"You ready to revive Pina?" Percy asked with a smile as he watched the two.

"Yeah!" Silica answered happily as she opened her item menu to get the flower and feather. She then was able to use the flower and revive her lost familiar.

"Take care of yourself," Percy stated as he and Kirito walked towards the door.

"I will, and thank you again for everything," Silica said happily as she held onto Pina.

"It's good to be back up here," Percy stated as he and Kirito walked into a cave where the assault team was conducting a meeting over battle plans.

"I know what you mean," Kirito answered as they walked towards their friend.

"Hey Agil, what's up?" Percy asked as he and Kirito rejoined the group of the assault team.

"Have you heard the rumors?" Agil whispered to the two black haired teens.

"What rumors?" Percy asked. There had been a lot of rumors lately, so he needed to know which they were talking about.

"What, about the player?" Kirito asked quietly back.

"Oh yeah, I heard the whispers," Percy stated as he looked around.

"They're true," Agil stated. "While you boys were gone, a female player joined the assault team. She cleared the last floor practically on her own with the strategy she devised. She's in there right now planning out the latest strategy for the next boss fight."

"Wow," Percy muttered to himself.

"What's her name?" Kirito asked. He was impressed. "A new fighter that was that strong, impressive."

"They call her Lady Athena, because her battle strategies could rival that of the goddess'," Agil said.

"What do you mean?" Percy asked. He had met the goddess and for some player to claim to have just as good battle strategy was a stretch.

"Well ancient Greece has always fascinated me. So, growing up, I studied all about their culture and their gods." He was about to say something else when the lock on the door unlatched. "Looks like the meeting is over for now," Agil stated as the doors to meeting hall swung open.

The first person to walk through the doors was the second in command of the Knights of the Bloodoath. Next person was an older teen with blonde hair. As Percy saw her, his whole seemed to stop.


	7. Chapter 7

**I can't believe that my story is already a year old. I'm so sorry that it takes me forever in writing a chapter. I told myself that I would write in a timelier fashion, but, alas, that did not happen. But I am proud of myself for getting a new chapter out so quickly. Hopefully they will come out more frequently and not every couple of months. But hey, life happens.**

 **Please enjoy my new chapter. As always, read and review please.**

* * *

 **6/19 Annabeth**

"Has anyone seen Annabeth?" Piper asked as she walked through the big house. She was supposed to be watching Annabeth, well her and Thalia. She had come down to fix the three of them something for lunch. When she returned to the living room, where they had been sitting, Annabeth and Thalia were gone.

"No," Jason stated from where he and Frank were discussing plans for each of the levels. Jason had buried himself in studying each level that had been released during the beta test. They may not have had all the levels, and there was a possibility that some of the levels had changed, but at least they had a starting point.

"Try Percy's room," Frank suggested as he looked up from the plans. It took two seconds for Frank to realize what he said.

"I did, but the door was-" Piper stopped mid-sentence as she realized what it meant. She took off at full speed to where Percy was laying down with the Nervegear. Frank and Jason followed Piper to Percy's room. Piper pounded on the door. "Annabeth!" she shouted. "Annabeth, open up! You can't go in alone!"

Because of the shouting, others that had been in the big house came to investigate. Thalia stumbled down the stairs holding her head.

Jason gave his sister a look.

"Annie knocked me out," she said simply as she made her way to the door. Thalia gave the door one hard kick, sending flying open.

As the campers looked into the room, their fears were confirmed as they saw Annabeth lying on the floor with the Nervegear on her head. She had dived into the game on her own.

* * *

Annabeth's eyes flew open as she appeared in the deserted, main plaza of the Town of Beginnings. She couldn't help herself as she stared at everything around her. It was incredible. The amount of detail that Akihiko Kayaba had put into the game, it was truly amazing. The amount of care that had been put into the game, everything was so real.

Annabeth slowly started to make her away around the square. As she did, she looked around at the people who were walking around. Many of the players she saw, looked hopeless. They appeared to be the ones that had given up. Shaking her head, Annabeth steeled herself. She had a job to do, and worrying about players who had given up, was not a part of her job. She needed to get stronger and find her idiot of a boyfriend before he managed to get himself killed.

Annabeth swiped down to access her menu. She had spent the last seven months pouring herself over the instruction manual repeatedly. She could quote the book backwards if someone asked her too. She spent some of the time studying everything she could about Akihiko Kayaba. She knew his story from start until he trapped everyone inside of the game. It appeared that Kayaba had disappeared when the game launched.

She accessed her weapons and equipped herself with a sword. It wasn't her drakon sword, but it would do for now until she was able to get a better one. She then took off towards the out skirts of town. She needed to do some leveling and fast if she wanted to catch up with Percy. She had no doubt that he was up helping to lead the players in clearing each floor. So, her goal was to become good enough to join those players.

She would become strong, beat Percy to Hades and back, then help to clear the game. And they were going to beat the game. She was not going to live the rest of her life in this virtual world. She had plans and spending the rest of her life in this game was not one of them.

* * *

The next few months flew by in a blur for Annabeth. During this time, she fought solo against the many monsters she encountered. Each day she worked hard to level up. She had a single goal on her mind, become stronger. In becoming stronger, she would make to the front lines, as she heard many players call it. Making it to the front lines would be where she would fine Percy. The sooner she got there, the sooner she would find him. She needed to get there to make sure that Percy was still safe.

Since she had come into the game, she had no idea of how Percy was doing. Before she could sit beside him and make sure that he was still breathing. But now, now she was on her own with only hope to push her on.

While she had been on her own, Annabeth had several close calls. It had been an eye opener when her health had drastically dropped. She needed to become stronger, but she had to be smart about it. She would be no good to her boyfriend if she died in the game. This realization forced her to slow down. She still worked hard on leveling up, but she was more careful on leveling.

It was hard though, most of the one-time quests had been taken by previous players so it was harder for her to level up. Sure, there were a few that would always be there for anyone and everyone to accept. But majority of those quests did not offer a lot of XP. That meant she had to do some of them repeatedly to get enough XP. Then there were the super difficult ones that everyone left alone, their levels not being high enough to complete the quest. With all that being really left, either being easy quests or super difficult, this forced her to slow down and take her time. She couldn't just rush off to find Percy.

Also, during this time, she had gotten her hands on a guidebook. After she had finished leveling up for the day, she would return to whatever inn she had been at and read the book. She had read it so many times now. Most of it was useless information since it was strategies for clearing the beginning levels. But it still held some valuable information about monsters on random levels and tips on secrets that the game held.

She had found several side quests that people missed due to them not reading the guidebook. She also found quick ways to level up a few of her skills faster. Namely her knife skill and sword skill. There were a few other useless things that she found out since reading the book, and she just filed the information in the back of her mind for later.

* * *

 **10/28**

"Oh my gosh! There she is!" a male player stated as he watched the blonde walk into the tavern after a hard day of leveling up.

"I heard that she cleared a whole side-quest dungeon by herself on floor 28," a female player whispered.

Annabeth paid them no attention. What she had been doing had been greatly exaggerated. Sure, she had cleared a dungeon, but the monsters weren't that high. She also knew what their weakness was and exploited it. She had accidently stumbled into a dungeon that was filled with monsters as she had been clearing an easy quest.

"I heard that she plans up battle strategies for anyone who is willing to pay, and they are so good, you're guaranteed not to fail," another male stated.

Now that was a lie. She wasn't willing to sell her battle strategies. But a few players that she had come across, she had helped them and told them how they could beat the monsters. They had offered to pay her, but she refused payment. Then a few days later, they were back asking for more strategies. Pretty soon, over a hundred different players had been attempting to find her and demand strategies. Because of this, and the fact she refused to tell them her name, she had been dubbed Lady Athena.

"I can't believe that it's her," the first male stated. He was tall, Annabeth could tell that much even as he sat. The guy had a mop of messy brown hair on his head and a green shirt on.

"You're hero worshipping again," the female with light blonde hair, the color that almost looked white, stated in annoyance.

"I am not," he defended himself.

Annabeth let out a sigh as she turned around and left the tavern. She wasn't going to get any peace in this town anymore. Annabeth headed for the warp point to jump to a higher floor. There she might not be recognized. Also, after she ate, she needed to get back to leveling up. In the few months that she had been here, she had been able to raise her level to 40. She had been taking on monsters left and right to raise her level that high.

* * *

 **12/24**

Annabeth let out a ragged gasp as she sat alone in her hotel room. Six months she had been running around the game trying to find Percy. Six months of being alone, terrified that he had died in the game while she looked for him. Not to mention, he had no idea she was there, so he wasn't looking for her. She didn't know how people could live alone in this game. Annabeth had hoped she would have found Percy by now. Part of her wished to spend Christmas with him, even if it was in this stupid game. But this year, like last year, she would spend it away from Percy.

She stared out the window of her hotel room. She had gotten an amazing view on floor 49, of Mugien square that held a large Christmas Tree. Annabeth just didn't feel like celebrating as she watched players laugh and celebrate the holiday together.

Another part of her wished that she could take part in the event that was supposed to happen later. Getting a revival item was major. That item could give anyone a second chance in this game. Part of her wanted it for herself so that way if something happened to her or Percy they would be okay. But she was only level 48. There was no way she was going to take on Nicholas the Renegade by herself.

Not feeling like celebrating, Annabeth curled up under the covers. "Merry Christmas, Seaweed Brain," Annabeth hiccupped to an empty room.

* * *

 **2/25**

Annabeth stood beside the darker blonde as they discussed plans for the next boss battle. She wasn't really paying Asuna any attention as she was lost in thought. She had been on the front lines for over a week now and there had been no sign of her boyfriend.

When she had made it to the front lines and discovered Percy missing, part of her heart shattered. She had asked around and a player, Agil, if she remembered correctly, had told her that he and another player had taken on a player's request on a lower floor.

She quickly perked up at the prospect of going and finding her boyfriend, but Agil had no idea what floor they had went to. Annabeth thought about it. If she jumped down to a lower floor, she could miss him and by the time she came back to the front lines he could be on another mission or something worse could have happened to him.

"What do you think Athena?" Asuna asked her.

"What?" Annabeth stated as she snapped back into focus.

"What if we lure the boss into the village?" Lind repeated what Asuna had stated, a high-ranking member of the Holy Dragon Alliance.

The three were in a meeting about the upcoming boss battle. Asuna was representing Knights of the Blood Oath and Lind was representing the Holy Dragon Alliance. They were coming up with the basics of the plan. Once they did that, they would inform everyone else and hammer out the rest of the details. But the two guilds were the largest guilds making up the forces of the frontlines.

Both Lind and Asuna were good at strategizing. Things had always went over better with only a few people discussing and planning out the basics of an attack, rather than everyone that made up the assault team. They made their plan or two, and then proposed it to the other players later. It was here, with everyone else that the finishing touches were made to the plans.

When she had joined the assault team, she had been quickly invited to join the meetings. She may not have been part of a guild, but that didn't stop Asuna from asking her to come and join the talks over planning out boss battles.

"It could work," Annabeth said as she looked down at the plans. "Do we know if the boss would even go after NPCs? If he doesn't, then there goes that whole plan."

"I believe that he would if we mixed a few players in with the NPCs," Asuna stated.

"Then whoever was there would be the biggest target," Annabeth stated. "It could work, it's a huge risk." She didn't like the idea of throwing players out there to use as bait.

"Everything we do is a risk Athena," Asuna said as she slammed her hands down on the table. It was their job to come up with the plan and inform the other players that were waiting on the other side of the door.

"Give me a week to come up with a plan that doesn't involve putting players in unnecessary danger," Annabeth shot back.

"You have one week before we go ahead with what I proposed," Asuna stated as she started walking towards the door to the main part of the cave where the rest of the players were waiting.

* * *

Percy, Kirito, and Agil stopped talking as the doors opened to where the meeting had been happening. The first person to walk through the doors was the second in command of the Knights of the Blood Oath. Next person was an older teen with blonde hair. As Percy saw her, his whole world stopped.

"Annabeth," the name escaped his lips even before he could stop himself. 'No, it couldn't be,' he thought to himself. But this player looked exactly like his girlfriend. The girl he loved. The girl he was fighting so hard to get back to every time he faced an opponent. This girl couldn't be her.

As Annabeth heard her real name she turned her head to find the source. Upon stepping foot in this world, she took on a new name. She was going to use her brain to find her boyfriend and way out. When the first player had called her Lady Athena, that was the name she had gone by. No one knew her real name in this world. But now, she had heard her real name. Only one person in the whole game could know who she was. Annabeth quickly spotted him, standing beside a teen that had the same hair color.

Annabeth couldn't help but let a relieved smile over take her features. He was here, he was alive, and she was going to kill him.

"Hold this," Annabeth stated to Asuna, as she handed her sword to her new ally before making her way to the group of guys. The players split like the Red Sea, making it easy access for her to reach her target.

Annabeth stormed up to her boyfriend. She grabbed him by the wrist and flipped him over her shoulder. As he went flying, Kirito and Agil exclaimed in shock. The wind was knocked from his lungs as he hit the floor. Annabeth put her knee on Percy's chest and her forearm against his throat. With her other hand, Annabeth, equipped herself with a dagger. She pressed her dagger to his throat.

"You promised," she hissed as tears escaped the corners of her eyes. "You promised that you wouldn't leave me!" she shouted. All the worry, the fear, the anger came rushing to the forefront of her mind.

"I'm sorry," he breathed out. He saw the worry in her eyes as she kept him pressed to the ground.

"I swear to the gods above and below, you are going to worry me to death," she said as she leaned down and kissed him.

"I'm so sorry," Percy said again as Annabeth kissed him again.

"So," Kirito stated awkwardly, gaining the two teens attention.

"Sorry," Percy stated as he sat up, "Kirito, this is my girlfriend Annabeth."

"I figured," Kirito stated as he stared at the two.

"Athena," Asuna called as she approached the group.

"Oh, thank you," Annabeth said as she took her sword back from the younger girl.

"I'll see you in a week," she said as she addressed Annabeth. She then turned and sent a looked at both boys.

"Week?" Percy questions from where he sat on the ground.

"The meeting for the next boss battle is in a week," Annabeth explained.

"Well, I'll leave you two," Kirito stated nervously as he excused himself. He had watched the exchange happen, and he did not want to be on, who he assumed the girlfriend that Percy had told him so much about, Annabeth's bad side.

"Come on," Percy stated as he led Annabeth out of the caves.

"Percy where are we going?" Annabeth asked as she followed her boyfriend.

"I got a house on floor 50 that we can go to," Percy stated as he headed off towards the warp point. As they reached the warp point, Percy and Annabeth went to the lower floor. He then led Annabeth to his home. His home that he bought, a few doors down from Kirito, was a small, two bed room home.

He opened the front door and ushered Annabeth inside. Once they both were inside, he turned and looked at his girlfriend. He still couldn't believe that she was here. Percy kept expecting himself to wake up and realize that everything was a dream. As he opened his mouth to say something, Annabeth beat him.

"I can't believe how stupid you were," she yelled as she punched him.

"Hey," Percy yelped.

"I told you not to play, and you just had to have a normal experience. I was worried sick for over seven months before I joined the game looking for you!" she shouted as tears started to escape her eyes.

"How long have you been in the game?" Percy demanded as he world came to a stop.

"Almost eight months," Annabeth stated as she used the back of her hand to dry her tears.

"You've been here for eight months?" he stated in shock. "I never…"

"No, you didn't! But I couldn't leave you in here!" she shouted as she punched him again.

"Oh Annabeth, I'm so sorry," Percy stated as he wrapped his arms around her.

"I know, but I was just so worried about you," she cried as she clung to her boyfriend.

"Did anyone… did anyone else come with you?" he was almost too scared to ask. He couldn't live with himself if one of his friends had come in as well and died.

"No, I tied Thalia up and came into the game when no one was guarding me," Annabeth stated.

"They were guarding you?" Percy asked as he pushed his girlfriend away to arm's length to look at her.

"I kept trying to get into the game, but everyone wanted to come. We only had one helmet working and I stole it and came in after you," Annabeth stated.

"Come here," Percy stated as he pulled Annabeth to the couch. He sat down with her and pulled her close. "I can't believe that you did that. And you say that I'm the reckless one."

Annabeth contently curled herself up against her boyfriend. "Well I wouldn't have had to be, if you had listened to me," she whispered. She gently laid her head on his chest.

"How is everyone?" Percy asked as he changed subjects.

"They were okay when I left. Your mom misses you a lot," Annabeth stated as she kept her head on his chest.

"I miss her too," he whispered as he started to doze off, content for the first time in a long time.

The two ended up falling asleep on the couch. Annabeth contently curled up and laying her head on Percy's chest and he had wrapped his arms around her protectively.

* * *

Percy slowly woke up and yawned. He stretched his arms out and shifted slightly. Annabeth, feeling Percy move under her, started to wake up. "Good morning," he stated as he looked down at his girlfriend as she blinked the sleep from her eyes.

"Morning," she stated as she sat up and yawned.

"How about breakfast?" Percy asked.

"You can cook?" Annabeth asked skeptically.

"I'm not an expert, but my level is somewhat high," Percy stated proud of himself. "After all, Kirito sucks at it. So, that meant one of us had to learn or we would both be eating burnt food that Kirito knows how to make." Percy stood up and looked down at his girlfriend.

"Well then, I will stay right here and watch my idiot of a boyfriend make me breakfast as he attempts to make things up to me," Annabeth stated smugly.

Percy simply rolled his eyes as he headed into the kitchen. "What does my oh so stressed girlfriend want for breakfast?" he asked as he reached the kitchen.

"Surprise me," she stated with a smile.

"Blue pancakes it is!" Percy stated happily. He quickly got to work on making breakfast for himself and Annabeth.

As he did so, Annabeth got up and wandered around the small home. She discovered that the other bedroom had a bed in it and written on the door, more like carved, was the name Kirito. "Percy?" she called.

"Yes em," he answered from the kitchen.

"Who is Kirito?" she asked.

"He's a friend that I made," Percy called back. "We've been playing together since shortly after I arrived in Aincrad. We teamed up on the first boss battle and since we've been helping each other."

"Are the two of you in a party?" she asked as she came back to the living room to look around.

"No, we work together, but we never reformed our party after the first boss battle," he stated, remorse filled his voice as he remembered Diabel's death.

"What happened?" Annabeth asked as she stopped looking around and turned towards the kitchen to watch her boyfriend.

"A player died, and Kirito and I made ourselves targets for everyone's rage," Percy stated simply.

"How?" she asked as she moved to the couch to watch.

"You heard of the beaters, right?" Percy asked as he turned to look at his girlfriend. When he saw her nod her head, he continued. "Well Kirito and I are the beaters. Everyone was going to turn on each other after the fight. Beta testers against the rest. So, Kirito came up with a plan and I wasn't about to let him go off alone."

"So, you made yourself a target?" she asked simply.

"Yes?" he asked, not sure how to answer.

"You really are a seaweed brain," Annabeth stated in exasperation.

"Sorry," Percy stated with a smile. He then turned away from the stove and brought the stack of pancakes to the table. "Breakfast is ready."

"Good, because I'm starved," Annabeth quickly got up and made her way to the table.

"I'll be right back," Percy stated as he headed to his room.

As he left the dinning area and went into his room, the main door to his home opened. "Percy, you here?" Kirito called out as he walked through the living room and into the dining room. He then noticed Annabeth sitting at the table. "I'm sorry," he quickly apologized.

"He's in his room," Annabeth stated as she recognized the boy from yesterday.

Percy came out of his room, forgetting about what he had gone to retrieve. "Oh, hey Kirito!" he stated happily. "I figured you show up sooner or later."

"I can come back," Kirito stated as he attempted to turn and leave. He did not want to intrude.

"Sit," Annabeth stated, "join us for breakfast. I would like to meet the person that has been keeping my idiot of a boyfriend alive this past year."

Kirito quickly sat at the table, across of Annabeth and filled his plate with his favorite pancakes. For a few minutes, Kirito felt awkward as he sat with the couple, but slowly it ebbed away, and he became more at ease. Percy and Kirito both told Annabeth about what they had been doing in the game and Annabeth explained her side.

"So, what were you doing with the second in command of the Knights of the Blood Oath and the Holy Dragon Alliance?" Kirito asked.

"We were discussing plans for the next boss raid," Annabeth stated.

"What were you guys thinking?" Percy asked as he cleared the table and took the dishes to the sink.

"We were thinking about leading the boss to a village and having him attack NPCs," Annabeth stated.

"I'm sensing a but," Percy said as he came back to the table.

"But, I'm not sure if the boss would attack NPCs and that would mean we would have to mix players in with them to lure the boss out," Annabeth said with a sigh.

"That's too reckless," Kirito all but shouted.

"I know, that's what I said," Annabeth sighed.

"Is there another way?" Percy asked as he studied his girlfriend.

"Unfortunately, I can't think of another way. Kayaba made this boss difficult to get to unless he's out in the open," Annabeth said as she looked at Percy.

"And the only way we would be able to get him into the open is by luring him out," Percy concluded.

"It's to risky, more players could die!" Kirito shouted. "We need a better plan!"

"Well, it's a good thing that we have almost a week to come up with a better plan," Annabeth stated.


	8. Chapter 8

I live! I'm so sorry that it has taken me forever to update somethings happened at work, we had the holidays, which I hope everyone had a great Christmas and New Years, also my new computer is acting up.

Couple of things, I'm not entirely sure how armor works regards to your movements. I took the Skyrim approach, if you're wearing heavy armor, you move slower than in light armor. I do not own any of the characters.

* * *

Percy was trying hard not to slam his head on the table. The three of them had been going over plans for 6 days now trying to come up with a plan that they could all agree on.

"What do we know about the boss," Annabeth asked as she looked at her boyfriend and Kirito.

"Annabeth," Percy stated with a sigh as he finally let his head hit the table. The same information, all they had to work with was the same information for days. They had no new information since the two hours ago they last talked about the boss raid.

"No," Annabeth snapped in irritation. She wanted a better plan than putting so many players in the line of fire. "We're going to go over this again."

Sighing, Kirito activated the Mirage Sphere. "We know the boss is here," he pointed to where the boss was hiding in a village.

"We need him out in the open to deal with him," Percy stated as he lifted his head off the table.

"You said that the boss would go after NPCs right?" Annabeth asked as she looked at the two males. "So, if we could lure him out of his hiding spot and into the village, we might have a chance."

"But that would mean that he would be going after the NPCs!" Kirito defended.

"I know it's not ideal, but it is better than having him go after a bunch of players. The more players that we have facing the boss as a distraction, the more likely of someone getting hurt. But if we limit it to only a few of our fastest players and we can get the boss out and into the open, that would mean less players getting hurt. We won't even lose anyone as he takes out the village," Annabeth stated.

"But we can't do that," Kirito continued to argue. "He'll destroy the whole village."

"I know that it's not ideal, but a village of not real people or the lives of real people," Annabeth argued back. "If we sacrifice the village, it would mean that we are not throwing a bunch of players in the line of fire and hoping that they're going to be okay. We can make sure that the casualties are just NPCs and not players."

"But we would still be sacrificing a whole village," Kirito stated.

"Maybe we should come up with a different plan," Percy stated as he tried to keep his best friend and girlfriend from attacking each other.

"Fine, but we only have 2 more days until I meet with Asuna about the plan," Annabeth stated with a sigh. She understood where Kirito was coming from, and she didn't want to sacrifice a whole town to the boss. But, if it was between NPCs and players, she would pick the players over the NPCs. Given time, the NPCs would respawn and be fine.

"Why don't we go get something to eat?" Percy asked. "We could take a break and then come back to coming up with a plan."

"Sure," Kirito huffed as he stood up.

"That sounds like a good plan," Annabeth said as she turned off the Mirage Sphere.

The three headed outside and towards a small café that was three blocks away from Percy's home. They were each silent as they walked to the café. As they reached the café, Percy opened the door and held it open for his girlfriend and friend.

"Good afternoon!" exclaimed an enthusiastic, female, NPC.

"Hi," the three chorused as they sat down at a table. They were handed their menus and started looking over the selections.

As they were looking over their menus, Annabeth received a notification from Asuna.

"What does it say?" Percy asked as he looked over at his girlfriend.

"Asuna's postponing the meeting until the 6th. She said something happened with the Knights of the Bloodoath. Something about her being the second in command means that she has to deal with it," Annabeth stated as she read the message.

"Have you decided on what you want?" the NPC asked as she returned to their table. They quickly picked out what they wanted and told their waitress NPC. She then headed off and left the three alone at their table.

The three sat there in silence, each lost in their own thoughts. Annabeth continued to strategize about the upcoming boss raid. Kirito thought about how many people would just blindly sacrifice the NPCs of the game just to get ahead. Percy was lost in thought about his friends and family outside of the game. It had been almost a year and half since the last time he had saw his friends and family on the outside.

Percy was snapped out of his thoughts as their food was set on the table. "Thanks," he stated as he started eating.

Annabeth was still thinking about their options when their food arrived. She had taken a bite when a thought occurred to her. "Teleport crystals," she stated as she dropped her fork in excitement.

"What about them?" Percy asked as Kirito looked confused.

"Give me the Mirage Sphere," she demanded.

"I didn't bring it. It's back at Percy's," Kirito stated.

"Fine," she stated as she stood up and ran out of the café.

"What just happened?" Kirito asked as he looked at his best friend and the empty spot left by his girlfriend.

"I don't know, but we had better follow her," Percy stated as he stood up and left the correct amount of col on the table to pay for their meals. The duo quickly made their way out of the café. Percy glanced around before he was able to spot Annabeth heading to the warp point. "Come on," he said as he headed in her direction.

"Come on you two," Annabeth shouted as she reached the warp point.

"We're coming," Percy stated with a sigh as the two reached his girlfriend.

"Where are we going?" Kirito asked.

"Floor 56," Annabeth declared before the three were warped up to floor 56.

"Aaaaaand, what are we doing here?" Percy asked as he looked around.

"I want to check something out," Annabeth stated as she quickly headed off into the direction that boss was in.

"Care to explain what you're thinking wisegirl?" Percy asked as he and Kirito followed.

"That," Annabeth stated as pointed to an open field that was outside of the village that the boss was hiding in. "I noticed that there was a main road that lead right up to the boss's 'home.' If we can lure him out with our fastest players and get him out here, into the field, we would have a chance."

"Okay, I'm following you. But what about the teleport crystals?" Percy asked.

"We have three waves of players. The first wave is will already be set up here and waiting as out fastest players bring the boss to the field. Once we start to lose momentum, the second wave teleports in and takes the first waves place. Now, the first and second wave continue to fight. Once we lose moment again, the third wave teleports in and the first wave teleports out with the fast players. This will give waves two and three room to work. The first wave will then have time to rest, heal themselves, and regroup," Annabeth explained.

"We then can keep this going as many times as needed," Percy stated as he thought over what Annabeth had explained.

"What about the first wave, how do we keep them from being overwhelmed?" Kirito asked as he surveyed the field.

"The first wave will have more players in it than the other two, not to mention our fast players will fight with them," Annabeth stated.

"No, we don't want them to fight yet," Kirito stated.

"Why not?" Annabeth challenged.

"Send them in with the third wave," Kirito stated. "To take on the boss, people are going to need to be in full gear and that makes them slower. The runners have to be light on their feet and that means light armor and no weapons out."

"So, they lead the boss here and then teleport out to regroup with the second and third waves," Annabeth stated as she looked around.

"I think that we have a solid plan," Percy stated happily as he looked at the two.

"I believe we do. If we can keep the boss on the main road and his attention fixed on us, he'll leave the NPCs and the village alone," Annabeth stated with a nod.

"Alright," Kirito stated. He felt relieved that the village and NPCs would be left alone. Now their plan hinged on the fact that they could get fast players to agree.

"So, let's head back to my house," Percy stated as he started to walk to the warp point.

"Hey, I'll meet up with you two tomorrow at the meeting," Kirito stated as he jogged ahead of the couple and warped out.

"Wait it's not tomorrow!" Annabeth shouted.

"Too late, he's gone," Percy sighed as he had a smile on his face.

"So, care to talk about what you were thinking about at the café?" Annabeth asked.

"You noticed?" Percy asked shocked, he thought that Annabeth was too wrapped up in her own thoughts to notice him.

"I noticed, I may have been thinking about battle plans, but I notice when you start thinking about something depressing," Annabeth stated softly.

"I miss everyone back home," Percy whispered. "I know I have you now and I had Kirito with me the whole time, but I had no one from the outside with me. I miss everyone from camp. I miss my mom and Paul. I miss my dad."

"You miss the life or death quests?" Annabeth asked with a smile.

"No, I don't miss the life or death quests that the gods like to send me on," Percy smiled back. "But this game feels like a never-ending quest. I have just as much chance of dying in here as I do on a real quest back home."

"Seaweed brain, we're going to get out of here. We're going to go home and go to New Rome, just like you planned," Annabeth stated as she kissed her boyfriend.

"I know, but it hard to see the end when we're only halfway through the game," Percy sighed.

"Yes, but we're on the back half now. We're past level 50," Annabeth smiled. "Come on, I want to go explore that library you were telling me about on level 38."

* * *

3/6

"Lure it to the village, that's how we get the boss," Asuna stated as she slapped her hand down onto the table.

"But we can lure him out of the village and into the open field," Annabeth argued back.

"Yes, and we risk the players safety even more. If we simply lure him into the village, he has a village to go after instead of us," Asuna stated in return.

The back and forth had been going on for about two hours now. All the players had stepped back to let Annabeth and Asuna argue it out. Everyone had started muttering to themselves about which side to take.

"My plan will work!" Annabeth shouted.

"Yes, and how many will die if you're wrong!" Asuna shouted back.

"We lure him to the village," Asuna stated again.

"You can't be serious? The boss will go after the villagers," Kirito stated as he stepped forward.

"Yes, that's the idea," she stated as she glared at him. "While the boss is busy killing NPCs, we can attack it."

"But they're not just objects like trees and rocks. Look they're-" Kirito tried to argue.

Asuna cut him off sharply and stated, "NPCs aren't alive. They are just objects. They can always respawn if they're killed."

"But if we lure it to the field and attack him in waves, we can defeat him," Annabeth argued back.

"But we will have no cover," Asuna stated sharply.

"We won't lose ground and players if we stick to my plan," Annabeth stated.

"I'm running this operation," Asuna stated as she put her foot down. "I'm still second in command of the Knights of the Bloodoath."

"Then why ask for my opinion?" Annabeth challenged.

"Fine, we'll reconvene in three days' time and vote on which plan," Asuna stated in defeat. "The day we meet, we will be putting one of these plans into action. Everyone is dismissed."

Kirito let out a huff as he turned to leave with Percy and Annabeth. "Hey, I'll catch up with you two later okay."

"Sure, we'll see you in town," Percy stated as he looped his arm with Annabeth's.

"I can't believe she did that," Annabeth stated in an irritated huff. "Why ask for someone's opinion and then not even consider it."

"She's threatened by your beauty and battle strategy," Percy stated with a completely straight face.

"You're so funny," Annabeth stated with an eye roll as she stated to smile.

Percy smiled back, "I thought I was hilarious."

"Come on Seaweed brain, let's go look at the town," Annabeth stated as she started to drag Percy away. "So, what was that between Asuna and Kirito?" she asked as they walked down the path and into the town.

"I don't know. I mean she was part of Kirito and I's first party during the first boss raid. She became stronger and now the two of them clash whenever they're both at the same boss meetings," Percy stated with a shrug.

"Come on, let's go get something to eat," Annabeth stated as she dragged Percy into a restaurant.

* * *

3/10

"Lady Athena's plan wins the vote," Asuna stated sharply as she looked over the results of the vote. It had been a tight vote. But evidently more players viewed NPCs the way Kirito did.

Annabeth stepped up to address the crowd of players. "I need 10 of the fastest players if this is going to work."

The players looked around at each other. No that it was time to execute the plan, many became nervous.

"This will work," Annabeth stated with confidence. "The first wave will have 50 players in the first wave. Second wave will have 40 players in it. Finally, the third wave will have the ones that lured the boss out in that group for a total of 40 players. The runners will regroup and re-quip themselves for battle. Each group needs a good mix of the different types of players. We will not be sending in all our tank players in one group."

It was 30 minutes later when everyone divided up and ready to go.

"Remember, you have people around you. Fight together and protect each other," Annabeth stated as she led the group out of the cave and towards the open field. "Asuna and I will be directing from here for the first round of rotating in and out. I will then be joining wave one and she will be with wave two on the second time they switch in. First wave, to your spots with second wave ready to enter. Runners, get to the village and wait for my signal."

Percy gave Annabeth a quick kiss before he and Kirito got into their positions in the first wave.

"Are you sure about this?" Asuna questioned again.

"Yes, this will work," Annabeth stated again to Asuna. "Players ready?"

The players let out a cheer as they prepared for the battle.

Annabeth opened her menu and scrolled down to find the flare that she had bought for this. She equipped it and fired it off. As the flare shot in the air, Annabeth heard the roar from the boss. The runners had engaged the boss. From her position she could see the village, the battlefield, and where the players were waiting and ready to go.

Another roar shifted Annabeth's attention back to the village. She looked up and saw the runners coming but not the boss. No, the boss was in town and he was attacking the village.

"Shit!" Asuna yelled as she faced Annabeth.

"Everyone to the village and hold on the outskirts," Annabeth ordered.

"This is why we should have planned the attack in the village. Now, we're scrambling for a new plan," Asuna stated, the venom dripping from her words.

"Shut it," Annabeth yelled as she ran to catch up with her boyfriend.

"Schist," Percy cursed as he chased after his best friend. "Kirito, wait!" Percy was able to snag a hold of Kirito's gear before the younger player could rush into the village.

"He's destroying the village!" Kirito said desperately.

"I know, but Annabeth will have a plan," Percy stated as he kept a grip on the frantic player.

"First and second wave, prepare to attack! We have to defeat him fast to minimize the damage," Annabeth stated. "Third wave, you're still on back up if we need to switch players out."

Players nodded their heads in understanding as they rushed to their do their jobs. The first and second wave of players rushed into to take the boss head on.

"If we had started in the village none of this would be happening," Asuna muttered as she watched the players engage the boss.

"You have a lot to learn about leading if this is going to be your attitude if a plan doesn't go according to plan," Annabeth snapped. "Yes, you were out voted. Yes, things would have went more smoothly and we would have been in place for him to attack the village. But a part of leading is rolling with what happens. We planned to take him on out in the field, but part of me knew that there was a chance our plan could fall apart. That is why you don't see any NPCs out. Percy and I were able to get them out of the surrounding building that the boss had the highest chance of destroying.

"So, this may have been your show, but you aren't the only player capable of leading. Get that through your head now, you aren't the only player here. Take advantage of other players and think for one second that they might know more than you," Annabeth yelled at the younger player. "Those that are injured, teleport out! Wave three, teleport in!"

Asuna was at a loss for words as she stared at the blonde before her. In her anger, she hadn't even noticed the lack of NPCs running around. She had been furious that her plan had been out voted and it would have been the better plan. She took a hard look at Annabeth as the battle raged on and she barked out orders. Annabeth looked completely at home giving orders, dictating how the battle was supposed to be fought.

Annabeth watched as Percy and Kirito fought well with one another. Each of their fighting styles complimented each other in only fighting for a while would accomplish. It really hit her in that moment just how long they had been stuck in the game. Her and Percy fought together in perfect harmony because of the battles and years they had spent together. But Percy and Kirito were starting to fight the same way due to having to survive Sword Art Online.

As the third wave teleported in and those injured teleported out, Annabeth assessed the battle. They would not need another rotation. The boss had been so busy with dealing with the village, he hadn't been prepared for the onslaught of players attacking him.

Annabeth watched as a lancer from the Holy Dragon Alliance won the last attack bonus. She let a smile creep over her face as she looked at the players cheer. A few players had been hurt, but none of them killed. There was damage done to a few of the homes that surrounded the battle, but no NPCs had been destroyed.

"You did good!" Annabeth called as she made her way to where Kirito and Percy were talking with another player.

Percy offered her a small as Kirito just nodded.

"I'm sorry that our plan to get him into the field didn't work," Annabeth stated.

Sighing, Kirito stated, "It was a hope that we could have spared the village."

"Yea, but none of the NPCs were destroyed," Percy pointed out.

"True," Kirito conceded.

"You guys want to go celebrate?" Agil asked the three players.

"Sure!" Percy exclaimed before Annabeth or Kirito could refuse.

"Good cause I know a great tavern on floor 42!" Agil stated as he led the way towards the warp point.

They quickly arrived at the tavern that Agil had been talking about. Agil got them all drinks and they found themselves a quiet corner to talk.

"So, Lady Athena," Agil started before Annabeth interrupted.

"Please, it's Annabeth," she stated.

"Fine, Annabeth, how do you know Percy?" Agil asked as he took a drink of his mead that he bought.

"Percy and I have known each other since we were 12. We're dating in IRL," Annabeth stated as she took a sip of her own mead.

"Really! How come we're just now meeting you?" Agil pressed for more answers.

Annabeth was glad she and Percy had come up with story to tell. She knew people would question why she had suddenly appeared. "I knew that Percy had gotten SAO, but he didn't know that I had gotten it to surprise him. In all the confusion of the launch, I lost track of Percy. I hadn't been able to find since about 2 weeks ago."

"I see, Aincrad is a big place," Agil stated. He knew that there was more going on to what the couple was saying, but he wasn't going to push.

Agil wasn't the only one who noticed holes in the story. Kirito remembered Percy telling him that his girlfriend didn't want him to play and she was against video games. So, it didn't make sense if she was so against, why would she be planning on surprising him in the game. But like Agil, Kirito kept his mouth closed. He resolved to ask them later, for now he was going to enjoy another victory with his friends.

* * *

A couple hours later as the trio stumbled out of the tavern, Percy stated, "You know, we should reform the party!"

"What?" Kirito asked as he supported his tired friend. In the almost year and half he had known Percy, Kirito learned that when Percy became tired, he became loopy.

"I'm serious!" Percy shouted rather loudly. "We would make an awesome team! Just the three of us!"

"Come on Seaweed brain," Annabeth stated as she guided her boyfriend to the warp point to go to level 50.

"I think we would become unstoppable!" Percy stated happily.

"I'm sure we would, but for now, let's get some sleep," Annabeth stated as they walked into Percy's home.

The two basically dumped Percy on his bed before closing the door to the room.

"You crashing here for the night?" Annabeth asked as she sat on the couch. She wasn't all that tired yet.

"Yes, and I have a question," Kirito stated as he sat on the couch as well.

"You wanted to know why we lied about when I showed up, don't you?" Annabeth asked with a sigh.

"Yes, how?" Kirito asked

"I saw your face as I told my story. I saw you connect the dots. The truth is, I didn't join the game until a couple of months in," Annabeth stated.

"How? I thought that Kayaba locked the game, not allowing anyone inside?" Kirito asked.

"He did, but we have a very smart friend that was able to reactivate a helmet and get me inside," Annabeth said with a small smile.

"Why-you came because of him," Kirito stated as he looked at Percy's room.

"I couldn't leave him in here, I had to do something and it was killing me to stay out and just hope that he would come back to me," Annabeth said as a tear rolled down her cheek.

"I understand, Percy told me in the beginning that he would do everything in his power to get back to you. Now that you're here, he's going to fight harder to get you both out," Kirito stated.

"I know, I just hope that he doesn't get himself killed along the way as he tries his hardest." Annabeth stated as she continued to stare at the door.


End file.
